Two Destinies Part 1
by augla39354
Summary: EterniaxDestiny 2 crossover! When Kyle and Reala are whisked away to Eternia and meet up with the heroes of that world, what could possibly happen? Rated T for some language. NOW COMPLETE! Read Part 2 for the rest of the story!
1. Prologue: Separated Together

**Two Destinies: Prologue: Separated Together**

Author's note: Yay, new story! This one spawned from an idea I had: What if the stories of Tales of Destiny II (a.k.a. Tales of Eternia) and Tales of Destiny 2 (the actual sequel that was released in Japan only) were combined? Due to my lack of a ton of knowledge about Tales of Destiny 2 and having beaten Tales of Destiny II (which I should hereby just call Tales of Eternia to avoid confusion), I'll have this set in Eternia! :D Write reviews, please! Also, I don't own these characters!

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"You insolent pests! Did you really think you could stop me?!?" The Priestess in white hollered. "I won't let you interfere!"

"What will you do to stop us? We already returned from your twisted future!" A brave blond-haired boy yelled out in response. "Try all you like, but we'll come back from anywhere you send us!" A smirk crawled onto the Priestess' face.

"Anywhere, you say?" She laughed under her breath. "And it's all because of her, right?" The Priestess pointed a long finger at a pallid girl wearing a pink dress. "What if you didn't have her? Could you return from my future then?" An older man with silver hair ran in front of the pale girl.

"You won't be able to lay a finger on her – I won't let you!" He stood with his arms out shoulder height; ready for anything the Priestess would throw at him. The girl behind him gasped quietly.

"Please! Don't put yourself in harm's way for me!" The girl looked up at her guardian with her sad brown eyes and was met in return with his silver eyes looking at her with care.

"Don't worry – She won't be able to hurt me if she tried." A smile lit up his face, but quickly turned into a frown as he yelled to the Priestess, "Just TRY and get her now!" He quickly unsheathed a long spear and pointed it at the Priestess, who merely chuckled.

"And what harm could YOU possibly inflict upon me with that…" The Priestess did not have enough reaction time to see the blond-haired boy raise his sword into the air and yell out a spell.

"Burn Strike!" He yelled. Three falling flames seemingly appeared from the tip of the boy's sword and struck the ground near the Priestess. However, the Priestess quickly raised one of her hands and created a protective barrier. The boy's spell hit the ground around her and flames danced around the elaborate white dress the Priestess wore, but she was unharmed. The boy who had cast the spell growled in disgust and swore under his breath.

"NONE of you know what I am fully capable of doing!" She summoned a ball of blinding light in her hand and smirked once again. The blond-haired boy who had cast the spell earlier looked at the light with fear in his eyes. Was that spell coming towards him? Suddenly, the Priestess turned and flung the ball of light at the silver haired man. It struck him squarely in the chest, and he fell onto the ground with a thud. The girl in the pink dress gasped at her protector's defeat.

"NO!" The blond boy gasped at seeing his best friend attacked. The Priestess cackled evilly.

"And now, for you…" The Priestess summoned up another spell and aimed it at the pale girl. The girl braced herself for the inevitable attack. Seeing the helpless girl, the Priestess smiled darkly. "Now, begone!" The spell was charged up and ready to fire.

"NO!!!" The blond boy ran as fast as his legs could carry him over to the pallid girl, just barely beating the spell to its target. However, as he grasped the girl, the spell hit home, and both him and the girl started glowing white. The pale girl tried to remove the boy's hands from around her waist.

"No! Let go! I can't let you get whisked away with me!" She looked into the embracing boy's enchanting blue eyes and saw determination.

"I'll go with you to the ends of the universe and back! I'll never let go!" The boy's resolve surprised the girl. Just then, his face disappeared behind a wall of light, as the two of them vanished in a blinding light. The other man, who had been knocked down onto the ground earlier, awoke from his defeat just in time to hear his best friend and the girl he had been trying to protect disappear with a simultaneous twinkle.

"…That fool…" The older man said quietly as the two silhouettes vanished. "What made him do that stupid move?" But he really didn't need to ask that question, since the answer was obvious: love. Still badly hurt from the attack and now that his best friend and the girl in pink were gone, the man slipped away into unconsciousness, not hearing the Priestess' victorious cackle.

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Author's Edit: Lol, I left my real name on the document... XD Yes, I left out the names and I made Judas and Nanaly poof. No, not Harold - the team hadn't met her yet... :P More coming soon!


	2. Chapter 1: The Falling Star

**Two Destinies: Chapter 1: The Falling Star**

Author's note: Yay, chapter 1! I know the prologue was kind of short… And it didn't have any names in it… It was so that it seemed a little more… mysterious. Well, to make up for it, this chapter not only has names, but is THREE TIMES as long! :D

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A flash of light appeared and then just as quickly dissipated, revealing four teenagers, among them a red-haired boy who wore a blue outfit that covered up the bare necessities, as well as wore cream colored pants and black boots with silver plates on them, a green-haired girl who wore an orange dress and a red vest that covered the top half of her torso, a boy with blue hair tied back into a ponytail and wearing white robes that covered up much of his aqua school uniform underneath, and, lastly, a girl with fluffy purple hair and a very conservative pink and green dress as well as somewhat frilly lavender stocking shoes. This last girl, unlike her pale companions, was dark-skinned and wore a jewel on her forehead. She removed a small blue animal that looked like the cross between a squirrel and a rabbit from her head and began to dance around.

"Hweel!" She said, "Quickie, we're back in Celestia!" The animal that the girl had called Quickie responded with a happy chirp. The green-haired girl giggled.

"Now, now, Meredy…" She said to the purple-haired girl. "Don't get too excited. We're not here just to dance around…" Meredy looked back to the other girl.

"Farah doesn't want to dance?" Meredy asked innocently. Farah was about to respond, but the blue-haired boy, whose head was in the gray clouds above, cut her off.

"That's odd…" He said. "The sky is gray here in Celestia, instead of blue as it is in Inferia…"

"Not only that, Keele…" The red-haired boy said. The blue-haired boy, or Keele, looked at the boy who had just spoken and was now shivering. "It's quite cold here…" Keele sighed.

"That's what you get for wearing just that 'man-bra' of yours, Reid…" Reid frowned at Keele.

"'Man-bra'?" Reid said, placing his hands on his hips indignantly. "It's not a man-bra, Keele. It's a hunter's outfit, made for mobility." Keele scoffed. Farah looked at the two of them and sighed.

"Guys, let's not start an argument here." She implored. "Let's have Meredy show us around Celestia!" Upon hearing her name, Meredy's face lit up.

"Meredy show you to Imen!" She exclaimed in her broken English. "Meredy live in Imen! Come!" She started skipping down the stairs of the Cape Fortress, the others following at a distance, unable to keep up with Meredy's endless energy. While walking, something caught Reid's eye.

"Huh?" He said, turning around to gaze upon a light that kept growing bigger.

"What is it, Reid?" Farah asked, walking over to Reid. She then saw what her friend had seen. "A shooting star?" She wondered.

"A shooting star!" Meredy repeated. "Reid can make wish!" She grabbed Reid's hand, and he began to glow. Reid quickly pulled his hand away from Meredy, wincing in pain.

"Ow ow ow!" He exclaimed. "Meredy!" He rubbed his hand that had seemingly fallen asleep when Meredy had touched him. _A wish, though…_ He thought._ I guess I'll wish for us to be able to stop the Grand Fall…_ He looked back up at the shooting star, and saw that it had grown to twice the prior size… And that it was headed straight for him and his friends! "Run for it!" Reid yelled. The four travelers ran down the stairs as fast as they could, but Keele tripped over his flowing robes and tumbled down five steps.

"Ow, my foot!" Keele exclaimed. "I think I sprained my ankle!" Farah turned around to assist the young scholar.

"Here!" She said, holding up a hand over Keele's foot. "Heal!" Her hand started glowing blue, but the blinding light of the meteor blotted out the glow at first, followed by the forms of the two travelers. Reid covered his eyes and strained to look back.

"Farah! Keele!" He yelled. All of a sudden, there was a loud crashing sound nearby, and then the light quickly subsided. Keele and Farah had reappeared, unharmed. However, the fortress had been badly damaged from the impact.

"Oh, no!" Meredy exclaimed. "Bridge of Light is gone!" She ran toward the rubble, and Reid shot a concerned look at the dark-skinned girl.

"Meredy!" He yelled. When Meredy did not respond and kept running, he sighed and followed her. Inside the ruins, he found Meredy stopped in her tracks, staring at something. Upon standing next to her, he gasped upon seeing what she had been staring at: two people, a boy and a girl, were resting on both rubble and the comfort of beds that had been placed inside the fortress for travelers and had seemingly broken their fall. _Wow, that was lucky for them…_ Reid thought as he looked at the two people.

"Meredy gonna get Keele and Farah!" Meredy turned and left the way she came, leaving Reid alone with the two unconscious people.

The girl among them had short brown hair with three purple hairclips, two on one side, and one on the other. She also had a frilly pink dress and matching stockings on, as well as bright red shoes that matched the long ribbon on her outfit. She also had very pale skin. The most peculiar object on her person, though, was a large translucent pendant situated upon her neck.

As much as the girl's outfit was monochromatic and reserved, the outfit of the boy in the other bed was just as audacious, as if he were a blue and red peacock. His skin-tight shirt was red and covered up more of his neck than it did his belly. He also wore a dark blue vest over his shirt. The outfit also consisted of gray gloves that terminated at the edge of his sleeves, which were actually only half-sleeves, revealing the boy's underarms. He also wore light blue pants with white piping on the sides that cut off a couple of inches below his knees and were held up with a dark blue belt that was the same color as his vest with a buckle that looked a lot like the girl's pendant. His shoes were white with light blue spots on the sides. The most peculiar part of his appearance was what looked like a yellow mop with the handle removed placed upon his head, which was actually his hair. Both of them looked rather strange in their own ways.

Reid walked between the two of them and crouched down to examine the girl's face. Her facial features were very refined and small. She reminded Reid of a delicate flower. Then he turned to look at the face of the boy. His face betrayed his youthful age, with his small nose, large cheeks, and… big blue eyes?!?

Both boys leapt backward and yelped upon looking into each other's faces. The strange boy almost fell off the bed he was on. Reid nearly fell over onto the girl's bed, and the boy's face changed from one of surprise to an angry face quickly.

"Get away from her!" He yelled in a rather high-pitched voice for a boy his age as he stood atop the bed he was on. Reid was surprised by the boy's sudden outburst and he leapt to one side away from the unconscious girl. The blond-haired boy still wore a scowl on his face. "Who the hell are you and where am I?" He barked. Reid held up his hands at face height to show that he was not a threat to the boy.

"Relax, kid…" Reid said calmly, hoping he may pacify the angry child. "I'm not gonna hurt you nor your friend." He looked at the still-unconscious girl, then back at the blond-haired boy. "I'm Reid Hershel. And we're here in Celestia." The boy relaxed a little and dropped to his knees onto the covers of the bed, but was still a bit tense.

"…Celestia?" He asked a bit quieter, seemingly talking to himself. "I've never heard of a place called Celestia in my life… Dammit, where the hell did that witch send us now?" Now Reid was the one who was perplexed. What "witch" was he talking about? Just then, a realization hit Reid. This kid had neither a jewel on his forehead nor had dark skin. Was he from Inferia like himself?

"Say, kid…" Reid asked. "Where are you from?" The boy at this point was no longer tense, having realized that Reid was not a threat.

"I'm from a town called Cresta…" He responded. And now Reid was REALLY confused. Reid had traveled all over Inferia with Farah, Keele, and Meredy, but he had never run into a town called Cresta before. WAS this boy an Inferian? The boy looked at Reid in silence, and then turned to look at the girl that had fallen with him. Reid walked a little closer to the boy.

"Y'know…" Reid said, sitting next to the boy on his bed. "I don't think I ever caught YOUR name, Kid…" The kid gave a small chuckle, and then bounced on the bed, kicking his feet out in midair, as to land back on the bed sitting on his posterior. The bed lightly undulated under Reid. The boy flashed a wide grin at Reid, to which Reid couldn't help but smile in return upon seeing. The boy held out a hand to Reid.

"My name's Kyle Dunamis." He said, still grinning. Reid grabbed Kyle's hand and firmly shook it. If the handshake had told Reid anything about Kyle, it was that Kyle really was a friendly person when you got to know him a little better. The handshake had no extra tension, but wasn't weak and flimsy either. Reid had a feeling that he and Kyle were going to get along. There was a moment of silence, when all of a sudden, Kyle asked, "So, where are you from, Reid?" Reid sighed, then lay back upon the bed, brushing aside some of the remaining rubble that had remained from Kyle and his friend falling through the roof of the fortress. He pointed a finger up into the sky, toward his home – Inferia.

"From there…" He said. Kyle fell back upon the bed as well and looked up to where Reid was pointing.

"…From heaven?" Kyle asked. "And why is the sky so dark?" Reid turned his head towards Kyle and chuckled.

"Not heaven, silly…" He laughed. "On the other side of those dark clouds – of the Orbus Barrier – lies a whole other world… My world… Inferia…" Reid sighed, daydreaming of his simple life back home in Rasheans.

"Another world…" Kyle repeated softly. All of a sudden, he sat up quickly. "Wait, then what's THIS world called, Reid?" He said louder than before. Reid sat up as well.

"Well…" He paused for a second as he looked up into the gray sky one last time, and then turned to face Kyle, whose smiling face had faded to a concerned look. "This world is called Celestia…" Kyle frowned.

"Celestia?!?" He exclaimed. "But I'm from a world, called… REALA!" He shot off the bed faster than Reid's eyes could follow. _His world is called Reala?_ Reid thought, but then Kyle repeated the word again, addressing the girl in the other bed. _Oh… I see…_ Reid thought. He stood up as well and stretched out his arms. Kyle's words finally took form once again on Reid's ears. "Reala, are you okay?" He said.

"I-I'm fine…" Reala's voice was trembling a little bit. "Where are we?" Her brown eyes matched the color of her hair, and they finally moved down to meet Reid's eyes. Reala gasped. "W-who's that, Kyle?!?" She pointed at Reid. Kyle gently wrapped his hand around Reala's.

"Relax…" He said calmly. "That's just Reid Hershey…" Reid buried his head in one of his palms for a second.

"It's Her-SHEL, Kyle…" Reid sighed. Kyle placed a hand on the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.

"Oops…" He said. "Sorry, Reid…" Just then, the door to the fortress opened up, and a purple blur moved into the room.

"Hweel!" Meredy's high-pitched voice emanated through the room. "Sleeping people are awake!" Meredy's response was met with puzzled silence as Kyle and Reala looked at each other, as if they were asking a silent question between them. "…Something wrong?" She asked. Reala's quiet voice perked up.

"Excuse me, but what are you saying, Miss?" She asked. Just then, Meredy beamed.

"You cannot understand Meredy because you don't have Orz Earring!" She smiled at her burst of sudden insight. Just then, Keele and Farah entered.

"Who doesn't have an Orz Earring, Meredy?" Farah inquired. Just then, she noticed Kyle and Reala staring at her and Keele.

"Who are you two?" Keele asked. "You two seem to be Inferian… Did you follow us on the Bridge of Light?" If Kyle and Reala were confused before, they were even more so upon hearing Keele's inquiry.

"Bridge of Light?" Kyle asked.

"Inferian?" Reala asked soon after. Kyle whispered something into Reala's ear, and then upon receiving the answer to her question, she smiled a little more and said, "Oh, I see…"

"Guys…" Reid addressed his friends. "These two are Kyle Dunamis and Reala. They seemingly came from another world… No, not Inferia…" Reid smirked a little, obviously guessing the question Keele was ready to spring upon them. A new question, however, had crossed Keele's mind.

"If not Inferia…" He began, "Where exactly DID you two come from?" Reala spoke up once again.

"Our world is called…" However, Meredy's sudden impulse to begin jumping on the bed that Kyle had landed on had interrupted her, and Reala began to giggle. Not long later, Farah, Reid, and Kyle decided to join Reala in laughter.

"Meredy!" Farah laughed. "What are you doing?" With one final bounce, Meredy sprang off of the mattress onto the floor a few feet back, and then turned to face everybody else.

"Meredy want to go to Imen!" She exclaimed. "Meredy knows someone in Imen who can make Orz Earrings for Kyle and Reala!"

"Really?" Farah asked. "Well, that will make things easier for our two new friends to understand you, so let's go!"

"Wait!" Kyle's voice made Farah turn around. "You three know who we are, but who are you guys?" Farah grinned.

"I'm Farah Oersted." She said. "Over there with the blue hair is Keele Zeibel…" She pointed at Keele, who was staring up at the sky through the hole where Kyle and Reala had fallen through with much curiosity. "…And that's Meredy…" Farah once more moved her finger in the direction of Meredy, who was starting to get really anxious to get on the road.

"Let's go, everybody! Meredy want to get to Imen!" Meredy bolted out the door to the fortress in a flash... Reala chuckled.

"Let's not keep Meredy waiting, then..." She said after the giggles subsided. "Shall we go then, Kyle?" The blond haired boy had some kind of concerned look on his face.

"Is it okay for us to come with you guys, then?" He asked Reid. The red-haired hunter smiled.

"Of course. It's not like you'll be a burden to us, will you guys?" The concerned look disappeared off Kyle's face and was quickly replaced with a grin.

"Of course not!" He said happily. "We promise to not get in the way, right, Reala?" Reala nodded in agreement.

"Come on, you guys!" Farah said, beckoning the chatters. "Meredy's gonna get too far ahead of us if we keep standing around! Let's go catch up with her!" She opened the door, and there stood Meredy, ten feet away and still quite anxious. The other four exited the fortress... All of a sudden, a chill wind picked up. Various parts of clothing flapped in the wind, but the only one who recoiled was Kyle...

"Geez!" He complained. "Why is it so cold?!?" Reid too had thought it was cold, but he apparently hadn't been as affected by the cold as this poor kid. Kyle stared hard at Reid. "W-why aren't YOU cold, Reid?!? You're not wearing much clothing at all!"

"I AM cold, Kyle..." Reid responded. "It's just, I'm used to the cold. Sure, when I first got here, the cold caught me off balance, but I'm okay now..."

"Perhaps you should cover up your belly button..." Keele scoffed. Kyle glared at the blue-haired scholar. "Leaving that much of your torso exposed will eventually cause for you to catch your death..."

"Hey, what's THAT supposed to mean, Keele?!?" Kyle barked. "I'm not gonna die of a cold!" Keele ignored him. Meredy spoke up just then.

"Reason Celestia so cold is because of different Greater Craymels!" She said happily.

"Different Greater Craymels?" Farah asked. "Like what?"

"Celestia ruled by Gnome, Craymel of Earth, Celsius, Craymel of Ice, and Volt, Craymel of Lighting." Keele scratched his chin.

"So, there's no Greater Craymels of Water, Fire or Wind ruling here... Just Greater Craymels of Earth, Ice, and Lightning..." Kyle shivered again.

"N-no wonder this place is so cold..." He complained. "It's ruled by a Caramel of Ice..." Keele spun around.

"It's CRAY-mel, not Caramel..." The scholar corrected rudely. "CRAY-mel! Get it right!"

"Craymel, so-RRY!" Kyle retorted back. "What the heck is a CRAY-mel, anyways?" Just then, Meredy started boucing up and down again.

"Let's GO, everybody!" She said. "Meredy wants to go home to Imen!"

"Wait, so you live in Imen, Meredy?" Reid asked. Meredy spun around.

"Yep!" Meredy said happily. "Meredy have house in Imen! Meredy will let everybody sleep in my house for night." Keele sighed.

"Reid, Meredy said that already!" He scolded. "Why don't you try opening your ears for once?" Reid frowned. Just then, Everybody looked up.

"It IS getting kinda dark, guys..." Farah said. "Let's follow Meredy to Imen and rest for the night." Everybody else was in agreement.

"Perhaps we can finally get something so we can talk to Meredy when we're in Imen, Kyle..." Reala said. Kyle nodded. And thus, the six adventurers started their journey in Celestia, heading for Meredy's house in Imen...

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Author's Nota Bene: This adventure is underway! :D Sorry for it being kinda lengthy, but it's to make up for the shortish prologue. Also, I have what will be two ongoing puns started. See if you can identify both! Furthermore, write reviews, please and thank you! ;)

EDIT: I made one kinda plothole-ish mistake... Fixed!


	3. Chapter 2: The Power of Craymels

**Two Destinies: Chapter 2**

Author's Notes: All right, I apologize for some bull**** I might be putting in this part of the story. Tales of Destiny 2 never really explains why normal humans are able to use magic, so I'm coming up with my own piece of **** theory… Plus, I'm not exactly sure if the light blue orb on Kyle's belt is just an accessory or has some kind of purpose aside from keeping his belt together and keeping his pants up, so I'm gonna say it's actually a Lens…: P (Hey, it kinda looks like one, so my theory isn't completely out in left field!)

As for Arte names, I'm borrowing some from a friend of mine who's also writing a fiction, too. (Though not in this part, since all the Artes I'm using in this part have canon names already either because they've been in other games *coughazureedgecough* or they have Katakana names, such as the spells.) I've asked, don't worry. My friend in question is Jtblitz on the Tales Series Forums, in case you're wondering… And for Reid's Arte names, I'm going to go with the Post-Symphonia names since they are more canon. So Sonic Blade = Demon Fang, Swarm = Sword Rain, Demon Hammer = Tiger Blade, etc.

As usual, write reviews! (And for those people who read The Third Chosen, I haven't abandoned that project! I'm just kinda stuck right now… _;)

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The sun was getting low in the sky over the heads of the six adventurers of Eternia, now with the addition of Kyle and Reala, two individuals from another world not connected to either world in Eternia. Reid yawned and stretched his muscular arms into the air…

"Geez, I'm really tired, Meredy…" Reid groaned. "Can we rest here tonight?" Everybody turned to face the complaining hunter. Farah put her hands on her hips.

"Reid!" She scolded. "You're always tired! Let's keep going!" She turned around to continue walking, but another loud yawn stopped her. Farah turned to Reid and frowned. Reid shrugged.

"Wasn't me…" He said… Just then, Kyle's blond hair started bobbing up and down as the boy stretched his arms as well.

"Sorry, Farah…" Kyle said quietly. "I'm quite tired myself…"

"Perhaps camping here would be a good idea, then…" Reala responded. Keele groaned.

"But the sun's still up!" He started nagging. "We can travel a little more, you guys! The wilderness is dangerous!" Meredy shook her head.

"Imen too far to get to before sun go down." She said in her broken English. "Meredy also think we should rest here."

"Four against two…" Reid said. "Besides, Keele, you can always use one of those Holy Bottles of yours if you're so paranoid…" Keele growled.

"You have to bring up the Holy Bottles every time…" Keele grumbled something about not being paranoid. "…Fine… I'm not happy, but it looks like here it is… Let's set up camp." And so, camp was set up in no time at all, and the six adventurers got to sleep…

…But it wasn't for long. A few hours after sunset, there was rustling of grass, followed by some eerie sounds that did not fail to awaken the sleeping travelers. In one tent, Reala had awoken to the sounds and upon clinging close to Kyle, she awoke the usually-impossible-to-awake teenager.

"What's going on, Reala?" He groaned, still half asleep. As he rose from his slumber, Reala wrapped her slender arms around Kyle's chest.

"I hear something…" She said, still attached to the blond teen. "I think there's monsters outside this tent…" Kyle yawned, then looked at his friend.

"Hey…" He said consolingly to Reala. "If it'll help, I'll go fend off any monsters that are out there, okay?" Kyle's warm smile was enough to assure Reala that there was nothing to fear.

"All right." She said. "Please be safe…" Kyle gave another assuring smile and Reala couldn't help but smile back. Kyle stood up, picked up his satchel to fling onto his back, and left the tent, and as soon as he had exited the tent…

"Kyle!" The boy spun around upon hearing his name. There was Reid, with sword unsheathed and a shield upon his arm. "You think you could help me with these Beetles?" Reid pointed with his sword at three Purse Beetles approaching the tent. Just then, Reid remembered that he had never seen neither Kyle nor Reala with a weapon before. "Oh, CAN you help me?" He asked. Just then, much to Reid's surprise, Kyle withdrew a sword from a sheath on his back (Reid hadn't realized that the satchel on his back was actually a sword sheath.)

"Yeah, I can help!" He said, running over to where Reid was standing. "I'm kinda surprised you're a swordsman, too…"

"Same here…" Reid responded. "Now, let's take care of these things!" The slimes were nearly upon the two swordsmen. The Purse Beetles made weird sucking sounds – apparently they were hungry for human flesh. Reid and Kyle ran at the enemies, making various slash and thrust attacks to keep the Beetles at bay. The insectoid foes didn't seem too injured from the attacks, though.

"We're gonna need elemental attacks to beat these guys…" Kyle said. One of the enemies crawled toward him while Kyle's sword began to glow blue. "Azure Edge!" Kyle slashed the air and a blue beam of energy hit the slime, making it flinch a little, but once again, it starting crawling toward him.

"Super Lightning Blade!" Reid's blade pierced the hide of one of the Purse Beetles, and then a lightning strike came down on the beetle, killing it. Reid looked at Kyle. "Two more!" He said. Kyle grinned, and faced down the remaining two enemies.

Just then, there was a sickening sound. It was a screech that was obviously not from the Purse Beetles was emitted from nearby. There was a short moment of silent panic between the two swordsmen. "Dammit!" Reid cried out eventually. "Looks like they've got reinforcements…"

"I have an idea!" Kyle cried out. "Just give me a minute!" He ran back a little ways, and then stood still, holding his hand at shoulder height, sword pointed in the air. He wasn't moving at all.

"Hey!" Reid yelled. "Why are you just standing there, Kyle?!? I need help! Two of these guys are hard to fight alone!" He just barely dodged a tail sting from one of the Purse Beetles and nearly tripped over another.

"That's it, I've seen enough…" A voice from nearby called out. The owner of the voice stepped out of the third tent. It was a very annoyed Keele. He walked toward the still-motionless Kyle, but then he stopped. There was an eerie red glow that shone from Kyle's belt buckle, and it intrigued Keele. "What?" He wondered. "What's going on?" Just then, Kyle swiftly shot his arm into the air and his belt buckle glowed even brighter, but with a deeper red color, now.

"Burn Strike!" He yelled out at the top of his lungs. A red glow shot out of the end of Kyle's sword, and then became a giant rain of fireballs that fell toward the earth. Reid, who had been temporarily distracted by the scene, finally realized that if he didn't move, he was going to be toast. Fortunately, Reid was fast enough to move out of the way of the incoming spell. When the fireballs hit the ground, they exploded into small meteors of flames, engulfing everything around them. The fires died away quickly, leaving only scorched earth behind. The enemies were nowhere to be found, apparently incinerated by the spell. Keele was absolutely stunned.

"H-how did you do that?!?" Keele asked Kyle, still quite shocked. "You don't have a Craymel Cage, do you?" Just then, instead of answering the question, Kyle put a hand on his head and began to sway a little bit.

"Whew…" He said quietly. "I've never felt dizzy after using that spell before…" Reid walked up to the blond-haired kid and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"You all right, Kyle?" He asked. Kyle did his best to grin as widely as possible.

"I'll be okay." Kyle said, smiling in his usual fashion. Just then, the weight on Reid's arm suddenly increased, and he realized that Kyle had just fainted and was now dead weight. Reid sighed.

"So much for being okay…" He said. He picked up the younger boy, and was surprised by how little he weighed for his height. It wasn't easy for Reid to carry Kyle, but it wasn't impossible, either. Keele walked over and examined the boy in his childhood friend's arms. He was particularly interested in the belt buckle that had glowed so brilliantly in the battle. Puzzled by the mysterious object, he sighed.

"Looks like I'm not going to be finding out how he used that spell any time soon…" Keele said. Reid laughed.

"He'll probably be okay in the morning." Reid said. "We should just let him rest right now. You can ask him tomorrow." Keele sighed.

"Fine…" He said. "I'll be sure to ask him first thing in the morning…" And upon saying that, he left for the tent where he and Meredy were sleeping. Once Keele had disappeared into his tent, Reid was left alone with the unconscious child. _He's powerful…_ Reid thought, looking back again at the scorched ground. _But maybe he's too powerful… Perhaps he has the ability to use powerful spells, but his body isn't strong enough to handle them…_ Reid scanned Kyle's body over with his eyes. He couldn't help but note how slender the younger boy's frame was, and that he looked rather emaciated and pale, especially in the moonlight. _Will he be a burden to us?_ Just then, Reid heard a sound from nearby. He turned around to see Reala standing in front of her tent, one hand placed across her chest.

"Is he all right?" Her delicate voice asked, looking at the unconscious boy in Reid's arms. Reid smiled.

"He just fainted after using a spell…" He said. "He'll probably be okay with a little rest. Don't worry, he's not dead." Reala's face showed relief.

"Oh, good…" She said as her hand that had been upon her chest moved down to her side. "I don't know what I'd do if I was separated from Kyle…" She walked over to Reid. "You don't mind bringing him into our tent, do you?" Reid smiled.

"Sure, I will." He said. "And then, it's back to bed for me." He walked into the tent with Reala, set Kyle down on his makeshift bed, and left the tent, ready to sleep for a long time due to how exhausted he was.

* * *

The sun was already well on its way up toward the apex of the gray sky of Celestia when Kyle finally awoke. Upon awakening, he once again placed his hand upon his head. "Oww…" He muttered. "What a terrible headache…" He groped around the tent and his hand finally found the tent flap. He flung it open, and sunlight poured in, making Kyle's headache worse. "Aah!" He yelled, cringing away from the light and protecting his eyes with his hand. After his eyes adjusted, he looked outside to see Reala giggling at him.

"You're finally up, sleepyhead!" She giggled. Farah came into view and placed her hands on her hips, yet still had a smile on her face.

"We decided we'd let you sleep because you had a rough night last night…" She said. "But now that you're up, let's head to Imen!" Meredy spun around.

"Hweel!" She said. "Imen not far from here. We should go!" Just then, there was a loud rumble. Kyle groped his stomach and a strange look crossed his face.

"Ugh…" He groaned. "I'm so hungry…" Farah grinned.

"Well, it is about lunchtime…" She said. "I'll go whip us up some lunch!" Kyle shot up onto his feet.

"What?!?" He exclaimed. "It's already lunchtime?!? But I didn't have any breakfast!" Just then, Kyle's stomach rumbled again, and he slunk back down onto his knees and groaned in hunger. Farah sighed.

"You're almost as bad as Reid when it comes to food…" She said, shrugging. "Fine. I'll whip you up some brunch, while the rest of us have our lunch." Meredy looked at Farah. "Don't worry, Meredy…" She said to the purple-haired girl. "After lunch, we can go to Imen." Meredy smiled.

"Okay!" She said. "Meredy fine with that." She skipped out of sight of the tent opening. Almost as soon as Meredy was out of sight, Keele appeared in view and walked over to where Kyle was sitting. He kneeled down to take another look at the blond-haired boy, now that he was awake.

"Is there something wrong, Keele?" Kyle asked innocently. Keele rubbed his chin.

"Tell me…" Keele said. "How exactly can you use magic, Kyle? You don't have a Craymel Cage, do you?" Kyle shook his head.

"Nope!" He said, looking down at his belly. "It's all because of this!" He placed a hand on his belt buckle, and it seemed to shimmer upon being touched. Keele was even more puzzled. He had examined the buckle last night, but his findings had been inconclusive.

"What is it?" Keele asked. "How does it work?" Kyle smiled.

"It's a Lens." He said. "This one is powerful enough to change surrounding magical energy into power I can tap into with my sword. All I do is focus on what spell I want to use, and the Lens creates the magic energy needed for the spell." Keele scratched his chin again.

"Then I wonder why you fainted when you used that spell last night…" Keele pondered. Kyle scratched his head.

"I think it's because I couldn't sense any usable energy when I had been charging for the spell…" Kyle said. "So the Lens converted MY energy into the energy for the spell, and I was so drained that I fell unconscious… I'm lucky to be alive… I've heard stories about people dying when that happens because they use up too much of their energy to live…" Keele put his hands on his hips.

"Why didn't you tap into the energy of the Craymels, then?" Keele asked. "They have lots of energy you could use!" Kyle shrugged.

"I don't know how to use Craymel energy…" He said. "Remember, I've only been exposed to Craymels for a short period of time… Their energy source is kinda foreign to me…" Keele rubbed his chin, then after a moment of thinking, he snapped his fingers.

"I have an idea!" He proclaimed. "Why don't I supply you with some Craymel energy to start off with? Once you're used to using it, then you can use Craymel energy from outside sources." Kyle blinked twice in confusion. Keele sighed. "Here's the deal…" He explained. "I'll summon the two Greater Craymels that are in my Craymel Cage, and I'll ask them to give you some of their energy. Sound fair?" Kyle crossed his arms.

"Why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" Kyle raised an eyebrow. Keele stood up.

"Because I want to know more about how to use magic from Lenses, and you're the only way to find out!" Kyle stood up as well.

"Hey, I'm not the only one here who uses a Lens to cast magic!" He said. "Reala's necklace has a Lens pendant on the end of it, and she uses Lens magic, too!" Keele harrumphed.

"I already asked you, and I'm also giving you more of an opportunity to be useful in battle…" Kyle had heard enough. His face was filled with rage.

"Hey, I am NOT useless!" He said. "Don't you DARE think you can just cast me aside like yesterday's laundry!" A sly look crept onto Kyle's face. "But I don't think you even know what laundry is… I haven't seen you wear anything besides that one cloak of yours…" Just when Keele was ready to punch Kyle in the face for that insult, Farah called out.

"Guys!" She yelled. "Lunch is ready!" Kyle's face brightened up to a hue that had not been seen since yesterday.

"All right! Lunch!" He said, grinning. "I'm starved!" Keele was still pissed off, though. However, he suppressed his indignation as he walked over to have lunch, as well.

After lunch, things had calmed down, and once again, Keele tried to talk to Kyle about enchanting his Lens with the Greater Craymels' energy. And this time, Kyle was more receptive to the suggestion.

"So you're saying you're going to get me to be able to use Craymel energy by letting me start off with a certain amount stored in my Lens?" He said.

"And from there," Keele said, "You'll be able to use less energy from within the Lens and more from the outside. Eventually, you won't even need the energy stored inside the Lens. Plus, you'll be able to use your spells again without potentially dying or falling unconscious."

"Hmm…" Kyle thought. "So how exactly do we get the Craymel energy into here?" He placed a hand on his belt buckle. Keele smiled.

"Like this…" Keele whipped out his Craymel Cage and held it skyward. "Come, Sylph! Come, Efreet! Enchant this boy's Lens with your power!" Just then, two glowing lights appeared around the Cage, one green and one red. The lights grew to the size of golf balls, and then quickly ricocheted towards Kyle's belt. As soon as the lights touched the magic Lens, they disappeared, and the Lens began to glow green and red. Kyle was a little dazed.

"What just happened?" He asked as the glow faded. Keele grinned, and then put away his Craymel Cage.

"I did exactly what I said I would." He said. "I enchanted your Lens with the Craymels' power. Go ahead – try using the Craymel energy to cast a spell." Kyle nodded. He unsheathed his sword, and, like the day before, he held it at shoulder height to gather energy. The Lens on his belt glowed green this time.

"Wind Slash!" He announced, protruding his blade skyward. A small orb of slashing blades of wind appeared, and just as quickly vanished. Kyle sheathed his sword, and then looked at his hands, then his belt. "Hey, I'm okay!" He said happily. "I don't feel dizzy or nothing! It worked, Keele!" Keele grinned. Reala and Reid walked over to where Keele and Kyle were.

"You guys done?" Reid asked. Keele nodded.

"Yep." He added. "And now Kyle doesn't need to worry about fainting when using his spells again." Kyle grinned.

"Do you think you could do that with me sometime soon, Keele?" Reala asked. "I'd like to be able to use my spells again, too." Keele nodded.

"But for right now…" He said, "Let's head to Imen. Meredy's been waiting for us long enough." Everybody agreed, and they all started walking to where Meredy was so that she could lead the group to Imen…

* * *

Author's Nota Bene: Okay, Okay! I promise that I'll get going on the story come next chapter! The team's FINALLY going to get to Imen in Chapter 3, so look out for it! Please excuse the B.S. I had to come up with to make this part work, or even just tell me how you thought it came out. In other words, write reviews, please and thank you! :D


	4. Chapter 3: Message In a Dream

**Two Destinies Chapter 3: Message in a Dream**

**Author's Preface: **Whaddya know… People are actually reading my stories! And I don't mean just my close friends, but complete strangers, too! Thanks to all of you! Now, once again, I may be spewing blasphemies in this chapter. Pay no mind. I spew these blasphemies for a reason. And the Melnics in this chapter is actual Melnics, which I learned from the Abyssal Chronicles forums. But don't worry; I'll be translating most of the meaningful Melnics in the chapter. I'm not going to touch upon what it means, but in case you're wondering what "baekun opu" means, it means "wake up". :) As usual, write reviews! And none of these characters, whether from Tales of Destiny, Tales of Eternia, or from Tales of Destiny 2, are mine!

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"Hweel!" Meredy exclaimed as she and her five friends entered an intriguing city abundant with lamps and curvy structures. She spun around to look at her stunned companions and her furry blue squirrel/rabbit pet, Quickie, leapt off her shoulders and squeaked in delight at the thought of finally being home. "This is Imen!" Meredy announced. "Meredy grew up here!" Her friends' eyes were aglow with curiosity.

"The technology here is incredible!" Keele exclaimed as he walked up to a lamppost. "How does this even work?" Meredy walked up next to Keele and pointed at the lamp.

"That is a Craymel Cage." Meredy said. "Inside are Lightning Craymels that glow!" Keele looked at the lamp again.

"I see…" He proclaimed. "How interesting… There isn't any technology like this in Inferia…"

"You know…" Kyle began. "There isn't any technology like that back in…" A gasp from Reala interrupted Kyle.

"Oh, Kyle!" She exclaimed. "Look at this!" She pointed toward a feature with bent supports. Kyle walked over to where Reala was and admired the architecture with her. Meredy started up again.

"Meredy want you to meet some friends of Meredy's!" She said. Reid, Farah, and Keele nodded, then started to follow her. Just then, Reid looked back to see Kyle and Reala still looking at the figure.

"Hey!" He called out, getting their attentions. "You coming?" Kyle and Reala were confused.

"Where you going?" Kyle inquired. Reid sighed.

"Didn'tcha hear Meredy?" He said. "She's gonna bring us to see her Celestian friends." Reala looked down at her feet, then spoke up.

"A-actually… We didn't hear her…" She said. Kyle's hands were placed indignantly on his hips.

"'Sides…" He said. "Even if we did, we can't understand Meredy…" Reid slapped his forehead. He had nearly forgotten that Kyle and Reala didn't have Orz Earrings like Farah, Keele, and he did.

"Still…" Reid said. "If you two don't hurry, we're gonna be left behind by the others…" Kyle and Reala nodded, and then ran behind Reid until they found the other three waiting outside a building. Farah had her arms crossed.

"What took you three so long?" She asked. Reid opened his mouth to answer, but he stopped upon hearing the voice of the younger swordsman.

"We got sidetracked…" Kyle answered. "Sorry… Let's go, then…" As if Kyle's words were a cue, Meredy opened up a door with a creak and beckoned her friends inside.

Inside, there were three people scurrying about busily; two men and one woman. Meredy cleared her throat, attracting the attention of the older of the two men.

"Ah, Meredy!" He said, walking toward her. "You came back!" Just then, he noticed Meredy's companions. "And you brought friends, I see… May I ask who they are?" Meredy smiled.

"This is Reid, Farah, Keele, Kyle, and Reala." She pointed to each person as she said their names. The man shook hands with each of the travelers.

"My name is Sagura." He said. "And these are my assistants, Bulenda and Hamilt." The assistants waved to the adventurers upon hearing their names. "My specialty is making weapons, Bulenda makes explosives, and Hamilt is my apprentice…" Just then, Sagura noticed Kyle and Reala exchanging confused glances. "Is something wrong?" He asked them.

"Those two are wondering what you are saying…" Farah said. "You see, they don't have Orz Earrings like Reid, Keele, and I do…" Sagura scratched his chin.

"Well, it isn't my specialty, but I could possibly fashion some Orz Earrings for them." Farah smiled.

"You can?" She said. "That would be great! It would help so much! Thank you!" She bowed to Sagura.

"It will probably take us a while to make them…" Sagura said. "To be safe, come back tomorrow. They should most likely be ready by then." Farah nodded, then translated for Kyle and Reala.

"He says that we should wait until tomorrow for the earrings." Reala nodded, then spoke up.

"Very well…" She said. "What shall we do now?" Meredy twirled around.

"We can go see Meredy's house!" She said. "Follow me!" The adventurers left Sagura's shop, following the skipping girl to her house. Upon reaching her house, Meredy twirled around again. "Welcome to Meredy's house!" She said as she opened the door. Keele cupped his hands over his mouth.

"Hello!" He called out. "Anybody home?" Meredy giggled.

"Silly Keele!" She said. "Meredy lives here alone!" Keele was shocked.

"A-alone?!?" He said. "At your age? What about your mom and dad?" Meredy's usually happy face was sad for once.

"Meredy hasn't seen her mom and dad for a long, long time…" Farah scratched her head.

"You haven't seen your parents in a long time? Where are they?" She said. Kyle sighed, and Reid noticed Kyle's sudden mood change.

"Something wrong, Kyle?" He said. Two sets of blue eyes met one another, and Kyle sighed again.

"I was just thinking…" He said. "I haven't seen MY dad in years… I wonder how he's doing…" Just then, Reala yawned.

"Meredy?" She asked. "Where is your bedroom?" The purple haired girl pointed toward a door, then held up a finger.

"Only room for one person…" She said, and Farah repeated. Kyle shrugged.

"What about a guest bedroom?" Meredy shook her head. Kyle looked around, and then saw chairs surrounding a small glass table. "Hey, we could probably sleep on those chairs…" He walked over to one of them and sat on it. "It's rather comfy…" He was getting really comfortable on the chair. Reala smiled, and sat down next to him.

"Hmm… Yes, these will do…" She said. Kyle yawned and his eyes began to shut. Whatever was said after that was lost upon Kyle's ears as he nodded off…

* * *

Suddenly, a strange sensation came over Kyle's body. He felt even more comfortable than before… and warm! He felt warm for the first time since he had come to Celestia! _That's odd…_ He thought, his eyes still closed, obviously enjoying the comfort. _Where is this warmth coming from? It's soothing and delightful…_ It almost felt like he was being hugged by the warmth. Just then, Kyle went to roll over, but the ground under him undulated a little and lightly tossed him to his feet. Now standing, he decided to open his eyes. The first view he caught was that of a vast, white expanse that climbed up high into the sky. Upon looking around, he saw nothing but white. _Am I on a cloud?_ He thought. Kyle picked up a foot, and then put it down gently. The ground gently bounced under his footstep. _That's strange… I thought clouds were just water… Is this a cloud? Or is there magic at work here?_ He took a few more steps, and the ground added an extra spring to his step, just like earlier.

Still rather in disbelief at where he was, Kyle finally spoke. "Hello?" He called out. "Anybody here?" Within seconds, Kyle had his answer.

"Kyle!" A voice called out, surprising Kyle with the fact that it knew his name. Strangely, the voice sounded familiar.

"Who's there?" Kyle called. "Where are you?" Just then, the atmosphere changed when an agonized yell permeated the air. The warmth was gone from around Kyle. The clouds began to fade from their pristine white color. The yell made Kyle gasp. Just then, the voice rang out again, but with a different, pained tone.

"Kyle…" The voice repeated. After a few seconds, a horrible scream penetrated the air. Thunder roared from somewhere nearby. The scream jogged Kyle's memory. It was his father's voice he was hearing!

"Dad!" He yelled. "Where are you?!? What's wrong?!?" Another thunderclap. "DAD!!!"

"Kyle!" His father's voice called out a third time with even more pain flowing from his familiar voice. It almost hurt Kyle to hear his father's voice like this. This time, Kyle's father had more to say. "Bandin edin yaio, Kyle?" Kyle was confused. He began to run blindly across the cloud in a direction that he thought his father's voice was coming from. Rain started coming down, nearly blinding Kyle as it beat against his face. The thunder sounded once more.

"What was that, Dad?!?" Kyle said between heavy breaths as he ran. "I don't understand!"

"Bandin edin yaio, tuya suimu?!?" The voice said, seemingly getting farther and farther away with each passing second. Kyle turned around and started to run in the other direction, thinking he was running away from his father. "Waitun buewaka tii tun!" The voice was still getting farther away. Kyle stopped running.

"I don't understand!" He repeated, yelling at the top of his lungs. "I don't know what you're trying so say!" He dropped to his knees as the rain pelted against his back. His tears were hidden amongst the raindrops on his face. "I just don't know…" He whispered. "What can I do?" He hit the ground with a fist, and it didn't bounce back like before. Instead, his fist began to slowly sink through the now completely gray cloud. His body was sinking through the cloud slowly. Just then, the rain subsided. Once again, Kyle felt a warmth upon his back and words forming on his ears.

"Waitun buewaka tii tun…" His father's voice sounded calm and nearby. Kyle's tears stopped flowing. "U muundu yaiodi anrupu… Suiimu u baururu mui ruimugundi bun… Kyle…" Kyle gasped.

"Dad!" He said as he went to turn around, but he moved too fast. He felt a sudden surge of adrenaline as he started to fall through the hole in the cloud he had just created. However, he caught a split-second glance of something glowing over his head before he fell through the cloud. Something black was wrapped around part of the glowing figure and seemingly refused to glow. The shape of six wings was imprinted in Kyle's head as the figure vanished behind the clouds. Was that… an angel? Once again, he heard his father's voice.

"Kyle!" He yelled. "Mui! KYLE!!!" The voice once more had pain embedded into it, as well as a new feeling of despair. Kyle forced his hand against the gravity pulling him toward the earth and threw his arm into the sky toward the cloud he had just fallen from.

"Dad! NO!" He screamed. "Help me!"

"Kyle!" The voice yelled from the clouds. "Baekun opu! Kyle!" Just then, the voice of Kyle's father faded into Meredy's voice.

"Baekun opu, Kyle!" She repeated. Kyle drifted into consciousness.

"Huh?" He looked around. He was lying flat on the ground in Meredy's house, staring up at Farah, Reala, and Meredy. "What happened?"

"You were having a nightmare…" Farah said.

"You woke me up when you fell off the chair…" Reala said, moving her body out of the view and pointing at the chair Kyle had fallen asleep upon. Kyle sat up and held his throbbing forehead.

"My dad…" Kyle said quietly. "He was saying things I couldn't understand… Things like 'bandin edin yaio' and 'waitun buewaka tii tun'…" He stopped. How the heck did he remember that perfectly? Meredy stood up.

"Kyle's father speak Melnics!" She said. Kyle looked at her odd. Reala giggled.

"She said that your father was speaking Melnics…" Kyle redirected his odd glare to Reala.

"Wait…" He said. "How do you know what she's saying?" Farah gasped.

"I almost forgot!" She said, pulling something out. She held it towards Kyle. "Sagura got these done. Reala's Orz Earring works great! Put it on your ear." Kyle took the earring and put it onto his ear, snapping it into place. While he was messing around with the earring, Meredy spoke up.

"Bzuinsu uti baibiku?" She asked. Kyle frowned.

"Say what?" He said as he finished securing the earring to his ear so it was comfortable.

"I said, does it work?" Meredy repeated. Kyle's face lit up.

"Yeah!" He said, beaming widely. "I got you loud and clear!" He gave a thumbs up to Meredy.

"Waiiru!" Meredy said, grinning. "Kyle and Reala can speak to Meredy now!"

"So, Meredy…" Kyle said. "Can you tell me what my father said now?" Meredy nodded. "All right… There were a few things he said…" Under his breath he added, "And I still have no idea how I remember these word-for-word…" Meredy ###### her head. Kyle spoke aloud once more. "First, he said 'bandin edin yaio tuya suimu'." Meredy smiled.

"Kyle's father say 'where are you my son'." She said behind a grin. "What else did Kyle's father say?" Kyle put a hand on his chin.

"So he wanted to know where I was…" Kyle pondered under his breath. "He was looking for me, too…" He raised his voice and looked at Meredy. "All right. Next, he said 'waitun buewaka tii tun'."

"That means 'come back to me'." Meredy said.

"All right…" Kyle nodded. "This last one is kinda long…" Meredy nodded back. "He said 'u muundu yaiodi anrupu. Suiimu u baururu mui ruimugundi bun.'" Meredy frowned.

"Uh, oh…" She said. "That means 'I need your help. Soon I will no longer be'." Kyle gasped.

"H-he's in trouble?!?" Kyle thought back to the split-second glimpse he caught of what he thought was an angel and that black object that wouldn't glow that he saw upon the "angel". Why wouldn't it glow? What was it? If the "angel" was his father, what was it doing that was endangering his father? Meredy tried to enlighten the atmosphere.

"Kyle speak Melnics very well!" She said. The attempt failed. Farah was concerned about the message.

"No longer be what?" Farah asked. "Is there more to what your father said?" Kyle shook his head.

"I think what Kyle's father meant was that he is soon going to cease to exist… cease to be…" Reala said.

"You mean like he's going to die?" Farah asked. Kyle sighed.

"I think he's already dead…" He said sadly. "I think he's under attack in the afterlife…" Farah shrugged.

"What if this is all just a crazy dream?" She suggested. Kyle frowned.

"No way!" He barked. "This is WAY too real for me to be 'just a dream'! And I'm NOT crazy!" Just when Farah was about to argue with the blond swordsman, a door creaked open, and Reid stepped into the living room.

"What's going on?" He yawned. "Isn't it too early to argue?" Kyle grumbled. Reala smiled.

"Oh, thank goodness... I don't like it when people argue..." She said.

"Why are you guys arguing?" Reid asked. Kyle looked sneeringly at Farah.

"SHE..." Kyle pointed at Farah. "...said that she thought I was crazy." Farah put her hands at her hips indignantly.

"I did not!" She scolded. "I said that your DREAM sounded a bit too crazy to be real!" The argument was ready to erupt again, but Reid wouldn't allow it.

"That's enough. Let's just get a move on..." He looked around. "Say, where's Keele?" Meredy twirled around.

"I showed him where the library was." Meredy said. Reid facepalmed.

"We're never getting him out of there..." He sighed. "So, where is it, Meredy?" Meredy headed for the door, and the others followed her.

* * *

After prying Keele away from the Melnic books at the library, the six adventurers were wondering where to go next.

"Meredy..." Reid said. "So, where do you think we should go? You're our guide here..." Meredy twirled around.

"I think we should go meet Galenos..." She said.

"Galenos?" Keele repeated. "Who's that?"

"Galenos is my teacher." Meredy answered. "Galenos is very smart. Galenos built the craft that Meredy came to Inferia in." Keele's face lit up.

"Very well." He decided for the rest. "Let's go see Galenos." Everybody else sighed at Keele's commandeering of their party.

"So, where does Galenos live?" Reid said. Meredy smiled once more.

"Galenos live in Luishka." She said. "Luishka is beyond the the Dragon Rock Mountains. The only way to Luishka is by the Craymel Express."

"Craymel Express..." Kyle said. "You mean, like a train?" Meredy nodded.

"Yes, a train!" She said. "However, we need a Train Cage so we can use the Craymel Express."

"Where can we get one of those, Meredy?" Farah asked.

"Meredy saw a Train Cage in Sagura's shop!" She said. "We can buy Train Cage from Sagura!" Reid looked in the direction of Sagura's shop.

"How much do you think it will cost?" He wondered. Meredy shrugged. Reid shrugged in return and started walking towards Sagura's shop, with the others following closely behind.

Inside the shop, Sagura was taking a break from work. He looked at the adventurers as they entered the shop.

"Ah, Meredy!" He said. "How are you?" Meredy smiled.

"Meredy is great!" She said. "We need a Train Cage, Sagura!"

"A Train Cage, you say?" Sagura scratched his chin. "Well, I do have this one..." He pointed to a large gray device nearby. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Reid's head.

"How are we going to carry that?" He wondered. "How much does it weigh?" Sagura laughed.

"It only weighs 350 pounds..." Everybody in the room sweatdropped along with Reid. "And it only costs 2,000 Gald. Will you be buying it?"

"We'll buy it..." Reid said. "...But how will we carry it?"

"How about you, me, and Kyle carry it?" Farah suggested. Kyle backed away.

"I-I'm not that strong, trust me..." He said. Farah put her hands on her hips.

"You're strong enough to wield a sword, Kyle..." Farah said. "Besides, Reid and I will be taking some of the weight ourselves, so you won't be alone." Kyle laughed sheepishly.

"I'm a bit reluctant..." He said. "But it looks like you guys need my help, so I'll do my best..." Farah smiled.

"Here is the 2,000 Gald." Meredy handed Sagura the golden coins. Farah, Reid, and Kyle walked over to the cage.

"On three..." Farah said. "One, two, THREE!" The three of them lifted the cage into the air with a little difficulty.

"Geez..." Kyle complained. "350 pounds is a lot heavier than it sounds..." Kyle tried to move his hand positioning, but almost dropped his end of the cage.

"Watch it, Kyle!" Reid said. Looking back at the blond swordsman, he saw that his face had turned to nearly the color of Reid's hair. Farah sweatdropped.

"I think he needs to be in the middle. I guess Kyle was right when he said he wasn't too terribly strong... Kyle, you wanna swap positions with Reid?" There was a groan from Kyle.

"Yeah, sure..." He said between grunts. "This is ridiculous..."

"Okay, set it down slowly." Farah said. Reid and Kyle did as they were told, then Kyle and Reid swapped positions and lifted the cage into the air once more. "That better, Kyle?" She saw a grin on Kyle's face, which was enough for her. "Now, let's go." The three cage carriers exited the shop first, followed by Meredy, Keele, and Reala.

"Now, if we run into trouble, we won't be able to fight carrying this." Reid said. "Will you three be okay fighting off monsters?"

"Yes, we'll be fine." Reala said. "Now, don't drop it!" She giggled a little.

"Now, Meredy..." Keele said. "Why don't you show us where the Train Station is?" Meredy smiled, then started skipping off. "N-not too fast!" Keele pointed at the three carrying the cage.

"Okay." Meredy said. "Meredy will skip slower." And once more, she began to skip off, but slower this time. And with that, the three adventurers were set off toward the Craymel Express Train Station and, beyond that, Luishka...

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**Author's Nota Bene:** Whew! That was an interesting chapter! If you agree, please type a review! It shouldn't take you too long! Thanks in advance! Next chapter, our heroes are off to Luishka!


	5. Chapter 4: The Trouble with Trains

**Two Destinies Chapter 4: The Trouble with Trains**

**Author's Preface: **So… I have officially decided that this story is my obligatory summer project, and I'm gonna hopefully be able to submit this to my Creative Writing class come September. ^_^ Which means there's gonna be a constant flow of chapters coming in! Great for all of you who want a good read! *shot* Keep those reviews flowing! ;) And I own nothing!

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"You sure you're okay carrying that?" Reala asked Kyle. The blond teenager smiled.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" He said. "At least I'm not carrying the end anymore…" Kyle looked at Reid, who was having an easier time holding up the end of the Train Cage than Kyle had had. Reid smiled.

"A-ok on this end!" He said. Reala smiled back.

"So, Meredy…" Keele said. "How far is the train station?" Meredy twirled around to face Keele.

"Station should not be far away from Imen." Meredy said. "We should be at station in about an hour." Keele breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good. The less time those three with the cage have to carry that thing, the less chance we'll have our forces compromised in case of a battle." Just then, laughter erupted from near the Train Cage. Keele turned around and put his hands on his hips. "What's so funny, Reid?" Keele asked indignantly. Reid laughed again.

"What's the matter, Keele?" Reid said mockingly. "Afraid of taking the front line in battle?" Keele growled. Reid laughed again, and then continued. "If you're so afraid of getting into a battle, why not use one of your Holy Bottles?"

"Stop bringing up the Holy Bottles, Reid!" Keele barked. "I am NOT afraid of any monsters!"

"Guys, don't argue!" Farah said. "We're not getting anywhere with you two bickering… Besides, what chance is there that we're gonna run into some monsters?"

"It's higher than you think, Farah…" Reala said. "Look! Monsters!" She pointed toward three rabbit monsters quickly hopping in their direction. Meredy gasped.

"Rapid Rabbits!" She said. "We have to fight them! Let's go, Keele!" Meredy grabbed Keele's arm. The blue haired scholar's face turned red.

"A-all right, all right…" Keele stuttered nervously. He pulled out his staff. The red gem perched atop the rod glimmered in the light. Quickie leaped off of Meredy's shoulders. His fur bristled and he growled a challenge to the oncoming monsters. "Let's do this!" Keele cried out, brandishing his staff.

"There!" Meredy commanded, sending Quickie to attack a Rapid Rabbit. The two creatures got into a tussle.

"Our physical attacks aren't probably going to do much damage…" Reala said as her staff sailed over the head of a ducking enemy. The rabbit retaliated, kicking Reala squarely in the chest. Reala fell over from the blow, but quickly returned to her feet. Keele jumped back from an attack, then whacked the attacking enemy away. As the enemy recovered, Keele pulled out an item from his robes. It looked like an ornate magnifying glass – it was a Spectacles. Upon holding it up to his eye, Keele was able to view the enemy's statistics, including its weakness to…

"Water!" Keele cried out. "They're weak against water attacks!" Reala pointed her staff at the enemies.

"I'll take care of this!" She said as her staff-wielding arm went up to shoulder height. The Lens pendant on her neck glowed with a blue aura. Kyle peeked around the Train Cage to see this and gasped.

"Reala!" He cried out. "Stop! Wait a second!" He was too late. Reala pointed her staff at the enemies.

"Take this!" She called out. The tip of her staff glowed blue. "Aqua Spiral!" A spinning jet of water fired out of the tip of Reala's staff, launching a Rapid Rabbit backward. Seconds later, Reala fell to her knees, clutching her chest and breathing heavily.

"What's going on?" She gasped. Meredy ran over to Reala.

"Is Reala okay?" Meredy asked. "Meredy will make Reala feel better! First Aid!" Reala stood up after her body sparkled for a second, newly reenergized.

"Thank you, Meredy." She smiled at the purple haired girl. Meredy grinned, and then looked back to the attacking enemies.

"More water magic!" She said. "Spread!" A fountain of water came up underneath a Rapid Rabbit, launching it high into the air. "That's one down!" Meredy said happily.

"Reala!" Kyle's voice was filled with seriousness. "You could have killed yourself!" You don't have the ability to use Water Caramel…"

"CRAY-mel!" Keele interjected.

"…Water CRAY-mel Magic yet!" Kyle finished. Reala gasped.

"I totally forgot!" She said. "I can't use any of my spells until I get my Lens enchanted by Craymels…" Meredy smiled.

"Meredy has Undine!" She announced. "Meredy can give you Water Craymel power!" Reala was happy.

"You do?!?" She said. "Can you enchant my Lens now?" Meredy nodded. Keele grunted.

"Guys? A little help here? Aqua Edge!" Three blades of water attacked the oncoming enemies, but it didn't hold them back for long. Once again, they made their way toward Keele. "I can't hold these guys off forever!"

"Sorry, Keele…" Reala said. "You're going to have to hold them off for a little longer…" To Meredy, she said, "Let's do this! And quickly! Keele needs us!" Meredy nodded, then pulled out her Craymel Cage.

"Waitun, Undine!" Meredy said in Melnics. "Nmuwaaemuti andi Runmusu bautia yaiodi puibandi!*" A blue glow emanated from Meredy's Craymel Cage. When it was the size of a golf ball, it flew off towards Reala's Lens and disappeared upon touching it. The lens glowed blue for a couple seconds.

"Good. You're done." Keele said. "Now, a little help here? Ack!" A Rapid Rabbit kicked Keele in the knee, and the other kicked him in the chest while his defenses were down, which brought him to the ground. Meredy gasped.

"Keele!" She said. "Meredy will heal you! Eek!" While trying to get to Keele, Meredy was stopped by a blockade of Rapid Rabbit feet trying to kick her to the ground. Reala gasped.

"Hold on, Meredy!" She cried. Her Lens glowed blue once again as she held up her staff to cast. As Meredy fought back an onslaught of flying feet for some time, Reala gathered energy from the Craymel energy stored in the Lens. However, Meredy was at the end of her endurance. One of the Rapid Rabbits broke through Meredy's defense.

"Ow!" Meredy cried out as she got kicked. She fell over. "Meredy can't take anymore…" Seeing Meredy defeated, the Rabbits bounced toward their next target: Reala. Reid got concerned.

"Oh, no…" He said. "If she goes down, we're gonna have no choice to put this thing down and risk it getting dented and fight!" Fortunately, Reid's concerns were abolished. Reala threw her arm up toward the sky, sending a blue ball of energy into the air over the two enemies. The confused foes looked up at the sky, rather dazed.

"Splash!" Reala cried out. The blue orb exploded, sending many gallons of water cascading onto the enemies with the force of a waterfall. The Rapid Rabbits drowned in the onslaught of water, and, when the spell subsided, the bodies of the enemies lay lifeless in a heap. "All right!" Reala cried out in victory, and then sighed with relief. Afterward, she ran over to Meredy. "Are you all right, Meredy?" She extended a hand to the purple haired girl, who used it to stand up.

"Meredy a bit hurt…" She said. "…But Meredy can heal herself… First Aid!" Meredy's body glowed for a second, and her battle bruises vanished. The two girls looked at Keele.

"Are you all right?" Reala asked. Keele groaned.

"I got the wind knocked out of me." He whispered. "I can't stand up…" Reala chuckled.

"Here, let me help you…" She said as she held her staff over Keele. "Resurrection!" Upon feeling the effects of the spell, Keele was able to stand up. After shaking off his robes, he looked at Reala.

"Thanks…" He said. "…But I wasn't dead, y'know…"

"Well, now that the battle's done, let's keep going." Farah said. She and the two swordsmen continued transporting the heavy object in their arms. The other three people took the lead, heading out toward the unknown…

* * *

Like Meredy said, after about an hour of traveling, the six adventurers came across a lonely platform and abandoned train in the middle of nowhere. Meredy smiled.

"This is the Imen Train Station!" She announced. "We can get to Luishka from here!"

"Where does this go, Meredy?" Reid grunted, tired from toting the 350-pound object for a long time. Meredy pulled open a door on the train, and the three carriers brought the cumbersome cage into the train. Meredy examined the apparatus for a few seconds, and then found where the Train Cage went.

"Aha!" She said. "Old one is gone, so put Train Cage in here!" Meredy helped direct the Train Cage into position. After fussing with the cage for a minute, the cage fell snuggly into place and locked in with a click. Relieved of the load, Reid sighed with much relief and sat down next to a wall to rest his exhausted body. Farah shook out her arms.

"Well, that wasn't TOO terrible, was it, Reid?" She said behind a smile. Just then, she heard a loud thud from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, Farah saw Kyle sprawled out on the ground. Apparently, he had just fainted. Keele sighed.

"Get up, Kyle…" He said. "You didn't carry as much weight as Farah or Reid…" Farah chuckled.

"Cut him a break, Keele…" She said. "He carried his fair share of weight, y'know…"

"Besides, he carried more weight than you did, Keele…" Reid sneered. "Why don't you help carry a 350-pound object like he did for a long time and THEN talk?" Keele shot the red haired hunter a dirty look.

"Guys, please don't start fighting…" Reala, who was kneeling over Kyle, said quietly.

"Yeah…" Farah agreed. "Why don't you start the train up, Keele?"

"Why me?" Keele complained. Reid sighed.

"I thought you were the smart one here, Keele." Keele turned to face Reid.

"G-gimme a minute and I'll figure it…" A loud rumble, followed by the ground shaking, interrupted Keele. Reala scooped her hand under Kyle's head to prevent him from hitting his head on the shaking ground. Keele turned around to see Meredy in front of the machine. "…Out…" he finished. "H-how did you do that, Meredy?" Meredy smiled.

"It was easy, Keele!" She said. Reid began laughing, despite his sore ribs.

"You got outsmarted by Meredy!" He laughed. Keele growled indignantly. Just then, there was a groan from nearby. Kyle sat up and held his forehead.

"Ugh…" He grunted. "My head is killing me… And my arms feel like lead…" Reala wrapped her arms around Kyle's torso.

"Are you okay, Kyle?" She said. Kyle shot a grin over his shoulder at Reala.

"I'll be fine…" He said. His hand dropped from his forehead to his waist, where it lay atop Reala's hands. "Especially because I'm with you." Reala wrapped her arms around the blond swordsman even tighter.

"So, Meredy…" Farah asked. "How far to Luishka?" The Celestian girl grinned.

"We go to next station!" Meredy said. "It should be about 20 minutes if we go this speed." Just then, Meredy felt a clammy hand on hers. It was Keele's sweaty palm, and his face had turned red.

"I-I'll take over…" He said, trying to hide his shyness. Meredy took her hand away from under Keele's and smiled sheepishly at him.

"Keele can drive train now." She said, feigning her usual joyful countenance. Keele's face was bright red as he gripped the steering apparatus and turned away from Meredy. However, he was looking straight at Kyle and Reala, the former looking at Keele's beet-red face.

"Something wrong, Keele?" Kyle asked innocently. "Your face is all red…" Keele's face wanted to turn even redder in embarrassment, but it couldn't. Instead, he just swallowed hard, and then harrumphed and looked away from Kyle. The blond teenager's face wrinkled in confusion, but he shrugged it off a second later when Reala changed her grip around his body. Reid gave a small chuckle of amusement, and then stood up to stretch out his arms and legs.

Just then, Meredy, who had wandered over to the side of the train to look out at the tracks, came back into the train in a panic. "Keele!" She yelled. "There is an obstacle on the track! Slow down!" Keele was alarmed by the announcement, and he instantly went to pull the brake. However, his hands were still too sweaty from the earlier incident with Meredy, and he could not pull hard enough. Reid ran over to the right side of the train to see what Meredy had been talking about. Just then, Keele yelled out in frustration.

"I-I can't pull the brake hard enough!" He yelled. "It won't slow down fast enough, and it's actually going even faster now!" Farah ran over to the braking apparatus to try and do what Keele couldn't. The brake was really old, though, and it wouldn't really budge easily.

"Kyle! Reala! Hold onto something! We're gonna go over that thing at high speed!" The twosome who had been addressed got up and ran to the opposite sides of the train to hang onto the railings. Kyle ran right, and Reala ran left. Kyle, having ended up near Reid, called out to the red haired swordsman.

"Hey, Reid!" Kyle yelled. "Get back in here and hang on!" Reid looked at Kyle, and then let go of the railing he was holding onto so as to move back inside.

However, as soon as Reid had let go, the train ran over the obstacle, launching the left side of the train into the air. Reala screamed as she hung almost vertically over on her side, and Kyle was flattened against the wall. The force of the train tipping, as well as having no handhold, caused Reid to flip over the railing and off the side of the train.

"REID!!!" Farah yelled. The train righted itself with a loud bang. Farah turned to Keele. "Hey! We've got to stop the train! Reid fell off!" Keele, whose hands were no longer sweaty, tugged on the brake again, but the train only increased in speed. Keele swore under his breath.

"The bang we heard was the brakes breaking!" He yelled. "We're on a speeding death trap with no way of stopping it!" Reala gasped.

"DAMMIT!" Kyle swore loudly. "That means we're gonna have to jump!" Keele looked at Kyle as if he was crazy.

"We'll DIE if we jump out of a train going this fast!" Keele gesticulated frustratedly.

"It's either that or we die when this thing crashes at the end of the line!" Farah said.

"Meredy has an idea!" Meredy said. "Keele can use Sylph to cushion our fall when we jump!" Keele's face lit up. He almost wanted to hug Meredy for her suggestion.

"That's brilliant!" He said. "Now, let's get off this train!"

"And hurry!" Reala yelled. "The station is approaching quickly!" The five of them hurried to the side of the train. Keele pulled out his Craymel Cage.

"All right! We need to hold hands for this to happen correctly!" He yelled over the screaming of the train. The five adventurers joined hands and clutched the other's hands tightly. Keele, who had been left with one hand free, held up his Craymel Cage. "Come, Sylph!" He announced. "Shield our fall with a cushion of air!" Green Craymel energy came out of the cage and spread its magic under the five adventurers as they held hands. "Now…" Keele addressed his friends. "All together…" He paused for a split second as the station passed into view. "JUMP!" The five of them leaped from the train, hands still joined, and fell slowly thanks to Keele's enchantment. Everybody was relieved when his or her feet touched the ground safely. A few seconds later, they heard a loud explosion from somewhat nearby and watched as flames flew into the sky. The five adventurers fell to their knees, grateful to be alive and lucky to have not been on the train when that explosion occurred.

"Whew…" Farah said. "That was a close one… At least we're all still alive and okay…" Kyle stared at the ground.

"Reid…" He said, sighing. "What about Reid? It was my fault Reid fell off…" Kyle looked backward in the direction they had just come from, then continued. "He let go because I told him to get back into the train…" Meredy tried to change the subject.

"At least we made it to Luishka Station…" She said. Keele stood up.

"We should wait here for a few days in case Reid comes…" He said. "If Reid's alive, he'll follow the tracks and end up here. If he's not, we'll just keep going without him." Meredy stood up.

"But Meredy need Reid's Fibrill!" She said. "Meredy cannot stop Grand Fall without Fibrill!" Farah stood up as well.

"In that case…" Farah said. "Let's just cross our fingers and hope that Reid is still alive…" Reala and Kyle stood up.

"I'm hoping that if he is alive…" Reala said. "…That he follows the tracks in the right direction… Or else, he'll end up at the Imen station and, by the time he realizes it and gets here, we're probably gonna have headed out…"

* * *

By the time Reid had reawakened, it was getting late in the day. His body was sore from hitting the ground hard. Thankfully, he hadn't broken any of his bones from the fall, thanks to landing on a soft patch of grass. Holding his head, Reid stood up. He saw that he had ended up a couple feet away from the tracks. "Looks like I rolled a little…" He said. Once he stepped onto the tracks, he looked down the tracks one way, then the other way. The view in both directions was blurred by fog that had rolled in. Reid sighed.

"Geez, which way do I go to get to Luishka?" He said, scratching his head. "Hmm… Let's see… If I fell off the right side of the train, I think I need to travel with my left side facing the tracks… Meaning… I should go this way…" He began to walk in the direction towards where he thought Luishka was. Little did he know that he HAD rolled… More so than he thought he did. In fact, when he fell off the train, he had landed on his side, and the wind force of the speeding train had pulled him over to the other side of the track… The left side of the tracks… Reid had no idea, but he was actually headed back towards Imen Station…

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**Author's Nota Bene: **Dun dun DUN! Will Reid ever be reunited with his friends at this rate? When will he realize that he's going in the wrong direction? By the time he finds out, will it be too late to catch up to his friends waiting for him at Luishka Station?!? Find out next chapter! So, as usual, if you liked this chapter, write a review! ;) And I apologize if anything sounds extremely odd… I wrote part of this at 4 AM on 7/3/09 because I had a bit of insomnia… Damn lumpy bed at my dad's house… XD Thanks for reading! (Also, it just so happened that this chapter has broken the chain of each of my chapters getting longer and longer! I just hope I can still keep over 3000 word long chapters going!)

(Time for an obligatory footnote...)

* This sentence means, "Come, Undine! Enchant her Lens with your power!" in Melnics.

**EDIT: **I had put "Nota Bene" (which means "Final Note", if you weren't aware) at the beginning of the chapter, which is usually where the Preface goes... Fortunately, I caught the mistake, and now it's a Preface again... XDD


	6. Chapter 5: The Road to Reunion

**Two Destinies Chapter 5: The Road to Reunion**

**Author's Preface: **Whew, I'm already at 15K words with this project? Wow, I'm verbose… And this is my longest chapter yet! Enjoy! And write reviews, too!

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Reid ambled along the side of the tracks, lost in thought. Most of the thoughts that had entered his head were worrisome, though. What if Keele hadn't been able to apply the brakes? What if the train crashed? Were his friends alive? If they were, did they think HE was alive? What would he do if they went on without him? Would he ever get back to Inferia?!? Reid stopped and shook out his head vigorously, as if he was trying to literally shake these thoughts out of his head. _Dammit, gotta stay positive…_ He thought. _Everybody's probably fine and waiting for me…_ Reid then continued walking, examining the surrounding mountains and Celestia's gray sky as he walked. After a few minutes of this, Reid gave a depressed sigh.

"Geez, who knew walking alone was so… boring?" He said aloud, knowing nobody was there to hear him. Reid started thinking about his five friends as he walked. He was so lonely that he almost missed arguing with Keele. Every time they started, one of the three girls, usually Farah, would eventually stop their bickering. He imagined Meredy skipping along ahead of him, leading him to parts unknown at her fast pace.

Just then, Reid's foot got stuck on something. He fell over face first onto his right arm. "Ow!" He yelled. "My arm… Ouch…" Reid cringed in pain as he tried to move it. "Damn, I landed wrong on my arm…" Reid sighed, and then, without thinking, he said, "Farah, I think I did something to my arm… Could you heal me?" He waited for a few seconds, and, when no response came, Reid rolled his eyes and slapped his forehead. "Dammit!" He swore. "I forgot…" Struggling without the assistance of his right arm, he fought to stand up. Once he had finally gotten to his feet, Reid turned to look at the object that he had tripped over. He gasped.

"What is that?" Reid was staring at something shiny sitting on the train tracks. He took a step closer and realized it had a strange, iridescent shine to it. It was… a turtle shell? The shell protruded into the air to about the height of Reid's knee. Reid knocked on the shell. It was hollow, but it was extremely hard. There was a large crack on the back of it, nonetheless.

"Geez…" Reid said. "Looks like this thing got run over by a train or something…" Then, it hit Reid. It HAD been run over by a train – the train that he and his friends had been riding on! This shell was the obstacle on the tracks that the train had run over! Reid glared at the shell.

"Stupid shell!" He said. "It's all your fault I'm hoofing it to Luishka now…" He kicked the shell, but ended up stubbing his toe.

"Ow ow ow!" He said, hopping on his other foot, spinning around as well. Just then, now facing in another direction, Reid saw something he hadn't noticed before. It looked like a piece of crumpled metal, hidden behind a rock, which explained why he hadn't seen it before.

"Metal?" Reid wondered. "What's this doing here?" He then realized something. If he had been walking toward the obstacle that the train ran over, that meant he had been walking the wrong way this entire time! And, after spinning around on his foot, he had no idea which way he was headed anymore!

"Goddammit!" Reid swore loudly, kicking over the metal. The discarded metal had a more distinguishable design on the other side of it. Reid stared at the two bent clamp-like pieces of metal protruding out at him for a second. "Wait a second..." He whispered. "That shape... This is..." Reid gasped loudly. "These are the train's brakes! They must have fallen off!" Reid began to worry again. _I hope everybody's okay..._ He thought, staring at the brakes. At that moment, Reid had a brilliant idea. He looked for the shell again, and saw it was behind him.

"I got it!" He said. "After running over the shell, the brakes fell off. Because the brakes fell off **afterward**, I should follow the tracks in the direction the train must have traveled - from the shell to the brakes..." He looked back at the brakes, then ahead of him. "...Or this way!" He was happy once again. Calling out to imaginary friends, he yelled, "Guys! I'm coming!" He ran in the direction that he had figured out would lead him to Luishka.

After about an hour, it was sundown. Reid still needed more time before he got to Luishka, but he was tired and had an aching arm. "Guess I'll stop here..." He looked around at the surrounding mountains once more. "But how will I know which way I should go in the morning?" All the mountains looked the same to him. Reid sighed. "I can't find a landmark... Nothing stands out..." He sat down to ponder this conundrum and nearly fell backwards when he tried to sit without using his aching arm. His sword fell out of his sheath when this happened. Reid picked up his trusty weapon and stared at it for few seconds. "Hey, wait a minute!" I've got an idea!" He examined the sword once over, and looked particularly at the tapered tip of the blade. Reid couldn't help but smile at his burst of genius. "Perfect..." He said. "I'll just point my sword toward Luishka on the ground and, in the morning, even if I toss and turn, my sword will still point in the right direction." He set the sword down tip-first toward Luishka a ways in front of him, and then he moved back a little, trying to make sure he wouldn't accidentally kick the weapon in the middle of the night. Satisfied, he laid his head down to fall asleep.

* * *

  
A ways away at Luishka Station, the other five travelers were making preparations to go to bed. Farah scratched her head.

"So..." She said. "Who wants to sleep alone?" Everybody exchanged glances. Nobody volunteered. Farah looked at the three tents that had been set up. "There's no room for more than two in a tent..." Farah shrugged. "So..." Keele cleared his throat.

"You always sleep in the same tent as Reid, Meredy sleeps in my tent, and those two..." He looked at Kyle and Reala, who were holding hands. "They're practically inseparable." Kyle and Reala looked at one another and smiled.

"Inseparable, huh?" Kyle said. "Then I guess we'll take one of the tents together..." He took his one hand and placed it on Reala's hand and moved her other hand under his and placed them together in his grasp. Reala smiled.

"That settles that..." Farah said. "But what about the three of us?"

"Maybe Meredy can pick who she wants to sleep with tonight." Reala suggested while moving closer to Kyle.

"Waiiru!" Meredy exclaimed. "Meredy shall pick her tentmate!" Keele cleared his throat again.

"You know..." He said, "You always have the option of taking your own tent, Meredy..." Meredy shook her head.

"Meredy does not want to sleep alone!" She said. "Meredy will pick between Keele and Farah, and Meredy picks..." She paused for dramatic effect. Keele gulped quietly. Farah winked at Meredy discretely. "Meredy picks Farah!" Farah grinned.

"All right!" She said. "Looks like the girls will sleep together tonight." Farah saw Keele's flabbergasted expression and added, "Sorry, Keele..." The scholar frowned.

"T-that's not fair!" He protested. The frown changed targets to Meredy. "Meredy, why didn't you pick me?" Meredy's smile faded.

"Sorry, Keele..." Meredy said, shrugging. "Meredy wanted to be with Farah tonight..." Keele cut her off.

"But we've always slept in the same tent!" He complained. Meredy just stared at him. "What, is there something wrong with the way I sleep or something?!?"

"Actually, Keele..." Meredy said. "Keele snores. Keele's snoring is very loud. Meredy cannot sleep when Keele is snoring." Keele froze in embarrassment. His face turned bright red.

"I-I snore?!?" He whispered. Face still red, Keele stood up. Aloud, he said, "V-very well... I'll go into my own tent so my snoring doesn't bother anybody..." Keele walked over to a tent and opened the flap to go inside. Just before he entered, though, a high pitched laughter stopped him. Keele spun around and shot a dirty look at Kyle, who was laughing jubulantly. "What's so funny, Kyle?!?" The boy didn't stop laughing.

"I-I can't believe it! Ha ha ha!" Kyle said in the middle of his laughter. "M-Meredy declined sleeping in a tent with Keele - he he he - just because he snores! Ha ha ha!" Keele's face turned a different shade of red in anger.

"I don't see what's so funny..." Keele fumed, pulling out his Craymel Cage. Farah saw this and jumped up to put herself between the two boys.

"Cut it out!" She said. "Keele, what are you doing?" Farah turned her shoulder and shot a dirty look at Kyle, who instantly stopped laughing. He chuckled sheepishly.

"Heh..." Kyle said. "Sorry, Keele... I tried to keep my laughter to myself and couldn't... I apologize for being disrespectful..." He stood up, and Reala followed. He looked at his friend and said, "Looks like Reala and I will just head to our tent now..." They disappeared behind a tent flap. Farah and Meredy followed suit, disappearing into their own tent. Finally, Keele sighed and entered his tent at last.

In the second tent, Meredy was giggling. Farah looked at the Celestian girl.

"What's going on, Meredy?" She said. Meredy looked at Farah and stopped giggling.

"Meredy lied to Keele..." She said. "Keele does not snore. Meredy just needed an excuse to sleep with Farah tonight. I just want to be with somebody different for one night." Farah chuckled.

"Well, you're gonna have to apologize to him sooner or later..." Farah yawned. "But we'll take care of that in the morning... Now, let's just get some rest." Meredy nodded.

In the first tent, Kyle and Reala had settled down nicely. Kyle looked at Reala, who seemed a little pensive.

"Something wrong?" He said. Reala smiled at him.

"I'm okay." She said. In reality, she was thinking about what was going on back home. Were the others all right without the two of them? Sighing one last time, Reala settled down into bed. "Hey, Kyle?" There was no response from the blond swordsman. He already had fallen asleep, it seemed. _I'll just tell him in the morning..._ Reala decided in her head and fell asleep...

* * *

Reala woke up and looked around. She was surrounded by pitch darkness... Reala couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face. "Hello?!?" She yelled out. There was no response. She looked all around herself to see if she could find something - anything - in the darkness. Finally, she located a small sparkle in the distance. _Is that... Light?_ She wondered. Reala decided she would take the risk and find out what that sparkle was. She ran towards it, never letting it out of her sight. As she approached it, the light grew larger and larger. Soon, the light had taken a form on her eyes. Reala gasped happily.

"Kyle!" She said. Her blond hero was just standing in the middle of the darkness, glowing with a friendly aura. Hearing her voice, Kyle turned around. When he smiled at her, the aura grew even bigger and encompassed Reala in light. She could finally see herself again.

"Reala!" He said. "Thank goodness I found you! I've been searching the darkness for you." Reala wanted to hug him. Just then, she noticed something moving in the darkness. It was some sort of claw, and it was pitch black, reaching out toward Kyle.

"Kyle, watch out!" She said. "There's something behind you!" The smile faded from Kyle's face, and then he turned around and pulled out his sword.

"Who's there?!?" He yelled into the darkness. "I'm not afraid of..." There was a silence for a second, followed by a terrible yell of agony from Kyle. Reala gasped. Kyle fell to the side, and Reala ran to catch him. Kyle's bright aura faded as she reached out for him. Barely catching him, Reala called out to him.

"Kyle?!?" She said. "Are you all right?!?" At this point, the light that had come from Kyle had faded. Once again, they were surrounded by the darkness. There was no response from Kyle. "Kyle, no!" Reala yelled. "Please! Speak to me! Tell me you're all right! KYLE!!!" She moved her hand over his body in order to hug him. His skin had turned cold so quickly, and Reala wondered why. Just then, as if it was a stark contrast to his cold body, Reala felt something warm when she moved her hand up his body. It clung to her hand and seemed like some kind of... liquid... Reala gasped. "Blood?" She said. "No! You can't be dead! You CAN'T be dead!! Please, Kyle! Don't leave me here!"

"There's nothing you can do..." A deep voice said. Reala gasped. "Your friend is dead... There's no way you can bring him back from the grave..." Just then, Reala's hands fell into her lap as Kyle's body disappeared.

"No!" Reala said. "Give me his body back! Please!"

"I cannot. I need it for my mission." The voice chuckled. "Now, for the other part of my mission..." The darkness then seemed to swallow up Reala, who could not feel the darkness taking over as she wept over the death of her hero...

* * *

Reala awoke with a start. It was night, but she could still see to a point. She sighed with relief. _It was just a nightmare..._ She thought, sighing. At that point, Reala rolled over a little to try to get back to bed, but realized there wasn't any movement from the bed next to her. _That's funny..._ She thought, _I thought Kyle snored a little bit..._ "Kyle?" She said. "Are you there?" She sat up and looked at the bed where Kyle had been sleeping when she last saw him. The bed was empty, but it was still a mess. "Kyle!" She yelled, getting out of her bed. She launched through the tent opening in a flash. "Where are you, Kyle?!?" She yelled. At one point, Reala feared that her nightmare had come true, and that the mysterious, deep-voiced person had taken Kyle from her. She began to search the sleeping train station, yelling out for the blond teenager as she ran.

Once she got to the tracks, she stopped her search. "No..." Reala began to cry. "I-I don't believe it... My dream can't have come true..." A tear rolled onto her cheek. She looked up into the starry sky. "KYLE!!!" She yelled.

"What?" Reala gasped and turned around. There stood Kyle, completely okay. "I'm right here... You don't have to... Whoa!" Kyle nearly fell over when Reala ran up and hugged him. A tear fell onto his neck. "Are you all right?" Kyle's voice was comforting in Reala's ear.

"I-I just had a terrible nightmare..." Reala sobbed. "And then, when you weren't there in the tent, I was afraid that it had really happened..."

"What kind of nightmare was it?" Kyle said, trying to comfort the crying girl in his arms. He finally wrapped his arms around Reala and returned her hug.

"I dreamed that you were killed by the darkness..." She said, happy to be hugged by Kyle. "And that a mysterious person took you away from me..." Kyle silently worried about her dream, but when he spoke again, his voice carried none of this worry.

"Don't worry..." He said. "I'm all right. I'll always be here for you..." Reala unburied her head from Kyle's shoulder and looked into his blue eyes.

"What are you doing up this late?" She asked. Kyle looked up into the sky.

"I'm wondering about that dream that I had the other night..." His eyes were still focused on the sky. "I mean the one where my father spoke to me in Melnics... The message he conveyed got me worried... I'm rather restless because of it..." Reala smiled.

"Don't worry..." She repeated Kyle's advice back to him. "Everything is probably all right..." She let go of him and took his hand. "I think we both just stop worrying about the future and deal with the present..." Kyle put his other hand on Reala's.

"That's a good idea." He said, smiling widely. "Let's just go back into the tent and try to get some sleep." The two of them returned to their tent to sleep for the rest of the night.

* * *

When morning came, Reid reawoke with a yawn. He sat up and saw that his sword wasn't in front of him. "Huh?" He wondered aloud. "Where's my sword?" The answer came when Reid looked around. The sword had ended up behind him, still pointing in the same direction. Apparently, he had turned 180 degrees in the middle of the night. Reid smiled. If he had just relied on his gut instinct and thought he hadn't turned, he once again would be going in the wrong direction. He stood up and made a remarkable discovery...

"Hey!" He exclaimed. "My arm's all better!" He rotated his arm around in its socket and felt no pain. "Great!" He picked up his sword with his right hand and brandished it in the air. "I can fight again! All right!" Now in good spirits, Reid started to run toward Luishka, but seconds later, he heard his stomach rumble. Reid fell to his knees.

"Ugh..." Reid complained. "I haven't eaten in ages... I'm so famished..." He flopped onto the ground, ready to just die from his hunger. At that moment, Reid heard some kind of squealing noise. He looked outward to see what it was and saw a little baby boar sniffing his head. His eyes met the boarlet's. _A boarlet?_ He thought. _At last! Some protein!_ After a few more seconds of staring, the boarlet squealed as it ran right out from under Reid trying to grab it. It gave a cute little oinkish laugh, seemingly taunting Reid. "Okay, that's it..." He growled under his breath as he struggled to his feet. The boarlet oinked in surprise and started to run away. However, even though he was hungry and didn't have much energy left, he was still able to outrun the boarlet. He caught the boarlet and it struggled in his hands for a few seconds. Placing it under his arm, Reid withdrew his sword. The boarlet tried to bite his arm to escape, but got a mouthful of leather from chewing on Reid's glove instead. Reid chuckled.

"Heh heh heh..." He laughed. "Now, I can actually eat!" The boarlet looked at him with puppy dog eyes, or as close to puppy dog eyes as a boar can make. Heartless Reid thought nothing off it.

"Sorry, Piggy, but that doesn't work on me..." He said. At that moment, the boarlet started screeching at the top of its lungs. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Reid's neck.

"Uh, oh..." He said. "That can't be good... I just hope that Mama Boar doesn't..." Just then, he heard a deeper and louder screech from nearby. He looked and saw a much larger boar glaring at him. "...Come..." The boar kicked up some dust and snorted. Reid stood up.

"This is bad..." The boar looked larger than him. Almost as if him standing up was a challenge to the mother, the boar began to charge at Reid. Reid tossed the baby to its mother to try to distract her, but the plan failed. The mother kept on charging even though her baby was safe. Reid held his ground despite the ground shaking with each footstep and readied his sword. "Okay, here goes!" Reid smiled. Just when the boar was close enough that she could almost feel Reid gored to one of her giant tusks, the red haired hunter jumped out of the way. The dazed mother was open for an attack.

"Demon Fang!" A small shockwave was fired from the tip of Reid's sword at the boar. The boar didn't seem very affected by the move, even if it did make it stop moving for a half a second. Reid fired a couple more Demon Fangs before having to dodge a tusk attack once again.

"Okay, that's not gonna work..." Reid thought while the boar was distracted again. "Let's try something else..." The boar tried to stomp on Reid, but Reid moved out of the way and attacked the vulnerable creature's belly.

"Tiger Blade!" Reid slashed his sword upward as he jumped and brought it back down again as he came down. The attack left a bloody gash in the side of the boar, and it screeched in pain. The boar whipped her head around blindly and manage to whack an off-guard Reid with her nose. Fortunately, Reid had not been gouged by her tusk and merely landed a few feet away on his back, relatively unharmed. Reid quickly returned to his feet, despite his stomach roaring. Once again, he moved to attack the boar, now knowing her weakness.

"Sword Rain: Alpha!" Reid created a small flurry of stabs at the boar's side, and finished with a more powerful thrust, which jabbed his sword deep into the boar's side. The boar once again roared out in pain. This time, she had had enough and just wanted to get out of there, so the boar tried to run away. However, Reid was too fast for her. He cut off the boar's escape route and prepared his blade for another attack.

"Omega Tempest!" He jumped up and started somersaulting through the air with his sword, the wind from the attack keeping him aloft. The Omega Tempest attack cut a gash in one of the boar's legs and she fell over in pain, unable to continue escaping. Reid continued to rise into the air with his attack, and then, at the end of the spinning, he gathered energy from within and prepared for a strike from above.

"Razing Phoenix!" Reid descended with sword drawn and flames dancing around his body. He and the fire collided with the incapacitated boar, sending flames spreading across her body. Reid jumped off the boar to escape being burned himself and smiled as he heard the last death throes of his kill. Within seconds, the boar grew silent. A couple more seconds later, the flames stopped burning and Reid climbed back on top of the boar. Once on top, Reid saw something that made him smile: cooked meat.

Using his sword, Reid cut a hearty sized piece of meat from the beast's hide. Upon taking a bite, he stopped to determine if it was safe to continue eating. When he swallowed, he took an even larger bite. "Tashts gud..." He said with his mouth full. Swallowing again, he continued, "Great! Now I don't have to worry about starving anymore!" Reid continued to enjoy his feast for some time. However, there was a small problem that Reid had encountered...

"I have nothing to drink! And I'm thirsty now!"

* * *

Now that he was full (but still thirsty), Reid set off for Luishka once again. About an hour later, he finally spied a glimpse of civilization: the Luishka Station. Reid's eyes glittered. "Yes!" He exclaimed. "Civilization! I'm finally here!" Excited, he ran as fast as he could toward the station and, within minutes, he found himself walking on cobbled ground instead of rocky terrain. He looked around, hoping to find his friends somewhere nearby (as well as a place where he could get something to drink). He stayed near the tracks mostly, still looking around. However, something caught his eye as he neared the end of the tracks. Reid gasped.

"Is that..." Reid ran up to what he had seen: a pile of twisted metal that was scorched in different places. "No! The train! It crashed! Is anybody still alive in there?!?" He tried to move the metal to see if anybody was inside, but the debris wouldn't budge. He banged on the metal once and nearly broke down into tears. Reid fell to his knees.

"No..." He whispered. "I can't believe it... I'm all alone... In a world where I wasn't even born... I don't belong here..." He looked up towards Inferia and reached out as if he wanted to grab it. "Looks like I'm never going to get back home to Rasheans..." Just then, a high-pitched voice rang out from somewhere nearby.

"Reid!" It said. Reid, however, was not paying attention to his surroundings and assumed the voice came from Inferia for whatever reason.

"I'm sorry, Inferia... My friends... I won't be coming back anytime soon..." Just then, in the middle of his grieving, Reid was nearly bowled over as something threw itself onto his back. Very surprised, Reid looked over his one shoulder to see what the thing on his back was, and all he could see was something yellow. A few seconds later, the yellow object moved, revealing one of Kyle's large grins and his eyes closed. Sure enough, Reid looked down at his torso and saw two arms with gray gloves on them draped over his body. The younger swordsman had nearly knocked Reid over when he went in to give Reid a greeting hug. Reid smiled.

"Kyle? You're okay?" Reid looked back over his shoulder at the kid's smiling face. Kyle opened his eyes.

"Of course I'm okay!" Kyle said. "And so is everybody else! We were all able to escape this..." Kyle pointed to the wreckage with one of his gloved fingers. "...because of Keele. He used the power of his Caramels to help us jump from the speeding train." Reid laughed at Kyle's mispronounciation of "Craymel".

"You know..." Reid said. "If I was Keele, I'd be scolding you for saying "Caramel" instead of "Craymel" again... But I'm not, and I won't..." Kyle laughed.

"Sorry, the word "Craymel" just doesn't stick in my head very well..." The blond swordsman chuckled. "And everytime I hear the word, I get hungry for something caramel-coated." Reid joined Kyle in his laughter.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, me too." Reid stood up. Just then, he couldn't put his finger on it, but something seemed a bit odd. The answer called out to him a few seconds later.

"Uh, Reid?"

"Yeah, Kyle?"

"I'm kinda not on the ground anymore here..." Looking down, Reid saw there were only two feet on the ground, and they were his. Being eight inches taller than Kyle, when he stood up, he had lifted the smaller boy off his feet. That odd feeling that Reid had felt was an extra 121 pounds on his back. Fortunately for both of them, Reid's back was strong enough to lift Kyle into the air. Reid kneeled a little, and the extra weight got off of his back. Reid's face had turned pink.

"Oops..." He said. "Sorry 'bout that..." Kyle once again had a big grin on his face.

"That's okay." The smaller boy said. "You didn't do that on purpose." At that moment, another voice called out.

"Kyle?" It said. The voice belonged to Reala. Kyle turned around.

"I'm over here!" He called back. "And Reid's with me!" Another voice rang out.

"Reid?!?" It was Farah. "Where are you, Kyle?"

"At the wreckage!" Kyle said. Another voice.

"Hweel!" This one obviously belonged to none other than Meredy. "Reid is okay! We can now continue to Luishka!" After this, the three girls and Keele appeared in sight. When they all had finished exchanging greetings, Keele spoke up first on a more serious level.

"I don't believe it..." He said. "The train was going fast already, so how the heck did you manage to end up almost completely unscathed, Reid?" Reid shrugged.

"Good luck, I guess..." He said. "Hey, you guys don't look that bad yourselves. Nobody looks like they have any major injuries, so I assumed getting off the train was no problem?"

"Keele used Sylph to lower us gently to the ground!" Meredy said. "Keele saved us from this!" She pointed at the jumbled up piece of metal. Keele blushed.

"Well, I..." He said, trying to articulate. He couldn't say anything else because Farah spoke up at that point after looking at Reid a little more closely.

"Well, seems like you're not starving..." She said, putting her hands on her hips. "What did you manage to eat?" Reid smiled and recalled the story of the scuffle with the boar.

"Wow, that's pretty cool that you were able to subdue something that big!" Kyle said with admiration at the story's conclusion. Reala smiled.

"You know, now that the team's all back together, we can head off to Luishka." She looked at Meredy. "Will you show us where Luishka is, Meredy?" The Celestian girl smiled.

"Follow Meredy!" She said. "Meredy bring us to Galenos!" Meredy skipped off, with the others following closely behind.

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene: **Whoa, short intro, long chapter. And a short final note, too! All I really need to say here is, "write reviews", please! :D


	7. Chapter 6: The Assassins Ascend

**Two Destinies Chapter 6: The Assassins Ascend**

**Author's Preface:** Sorry if this chapter is kinda shorter than usual… This chapter doesn't even focus on our six heroes, so… XD As usual, I don't own any of these characters, especially Barbatos! That guy scares me to death! And write reviews!

* * *

The priestess opened her eyes. A scowl quickly illuminated her face. She howled in anger and threw the magic Lens that she had been looking into aside, which now teetered precariously on the edge of the table. When her hand came back down onto the table with an angry slam, the shockwave of the blow to the table caused the Lens to bounce off and to shatter on the ground. The priestess growled and finally spoke.

"That boy…" She said quietly. Trying to control her anger, the priestess sighed and brushed off her white dress. The attempt failed. "That damn boy ruined my entire plan!" She raged. "Why didn't I take into account that he could have pulled that stupid stunt?" She saw the image of the boy to whom her anger was aimed at running up to that girl Reala and holding her as they disappeared in a flash light, and the imagery replayed itself in her mind. She could not remember that despised child's name to save her life, but thinking of his blue eyes glowing with defiant bravery as he went to protect Reala from the full force of her teleportation spell brought her much anger.

"My spell was meant to bring Reala to the edge of the universe…" She thought aloud, having calmed down due to not thinking about the boy anymore. "…To a place where she would never survive alone… An inhospitable place… Instead, it took Reala and HIM…" She paused for a second to try and recall the boy's name again, but it didn't come to her, so she continued. "It took them HALFWAY to the edge of the universe, and it just so happened…" The priestess' extreme fury returned as she yelled "THOSE TWO ENDED UP LANDING ON A SURVIVABLE PLANET!!!" Another fist slammed onto table.

She looked at the broken Lens on the floor nearby. "I saw him… I saw that damned boy through that Lens…" She had been spying through Reala's Lens to find out what exactly had happened to her and the boy. They had been talking about dreams, and that Reala had been having a nightmare where the boy was killed by the darkness. _Oh, if only that had been true…_ The priestess thought upon seeing it. Part of her had wanted to see the dream that Reala had had. And supposedly, the boy had been having some kind of dream himself, but the priestess didn't care about his dream. She sighed.

"Those persistent roaches will be back to interfere again… I already foresee that… Unless I do something about it… But what?" For a couple minutes, the priestess tried to formulate a plan to completely eradicate those two, regardless of them being halfway across the universe.

Suddenly, the priestess had a realization. "The only reason they'll end up coming back is because of the magic in Reala's pendant… The boy's Lens has no such ability, or at least I'm assuming, since he's no Holy Child…" She chuckled, and then continued. "If Reala is brought back here without him, that boy will end up being stranded on that world… I just hope he likes his new home…" She laughed evilly for a minute. "I know just the person to do the job… BARBATOS!" The priestess yelled out, and, a couple minutes later, a tall man with dark skin, blue hair, and a scary air about him appeared.

"You called, Elraine?" He said in a deep voice. The priestess, whom the man had just called Elraine, smiled.

"Yes, I did, Barbatos…" She said. "There's something I would like you to do for me."

"What is it?" Barbatos smiled with an evil grin. "Would you like me to kill somebody?" Elraine shrugged.

"Fine, if you must, how about taking care of that annoying little blond haired boy once and for all?" Barbatos, who had the image of the boy in question clear in his mind, chuckled.

"With pleasure…" A second later, Barbatos added. "Wait, how, though? I thought he got sent away to the end of the universe…"

"HALFWAY to the end of the universe…" Elraine corrected with a hint of indignation, which was more aimed towards the boy than towards Barbatos, on her voice. "And yes, I'll send you there to get him." Barbatos frowned.

"How will I get back here once I've killed him, though?" Elraine laughed evilly.

"That's the original reason I called you here, Barbatos." She turned around. "That girl Reala has the power to bring both her and that boy back here, but she doesn't know how to use it, or, otherwise, they would have come back by now. However, we can use this to our advantage and make it so that she brings YOU and her back here… I'll give you this…" She handed Barbatos a small shiny Lens. "With that, you can activate her Lens and send both of you back here. And, if you force her to take you back with her instead of that damned boy, you'll strand him on that world… Of course, I'd prefer it if you just killed him once and for all…" Barbatos laughed.

"So, you want me to kill the blond brat and come back here with the girl, then?" Elraine looked back at Barbatos.

"Exactly." She said. "So, are you ready to go?" Her hand started to glow white. Barbatos withdrew his axe.

"Yes, I'm ready." He said. In his mind, Barbatos was already imagining those defiant blue eyes of the boy had just been ordered to murder finally filled with fear as he saw his imminent fate. He also saw Reala screaming out to him not to kill the boy. He could almost already feel his axe easily cleaving through the boy's skin and bones, and his bloody carcass falling lifeless in front of Barbatos' feet. The boy's golden locks were stained red with blood, and his blue eyes were drained of their life, closing for the last time. This imagery seemed so real to Barbatos and so... satisfying. Soon, he would make sure this fantasy would come true. Only then would he be truly satisfied.

Elraine released the energy that she had been gathering. Barbatos' body started to glow white, in the exact way that Elraine had remembered the boy and Reala had been glowing when she sent them away. Soon, the blue haired assassin had vanished. Elraine smiled.

"Good luck, Barbatos..." At this point, she replayed one scene where the boy had pointed his sword at Elraine in her mind. _My name is Kyle Dunamis, and don't you ever forget it! I'm gonna be a hero just like my father, and to do that, I need to make sure your plans never succeed!_ He had said. After seeing this scene, Elraine added aloud. "And farewell, Kyle..." She spoke as if Kyle was right in front of her and she was talking to him directly. "I'll remember you as the little irritant who was a temporary speed bump in my plans." She laughed evilly. "I finally remembered your name, you little Goddess-damned child! Too bad I'll never need to use it again! Despite your threat back then, I WILL succeed, and you'll be unable to stop me!" Elraine burst out in an even louder evil laugh. "Little Kyle, you will be joining your beloved father in the afterlife soon enough!"

* * *

Barbatos looked around. He had ended up inside of some broken down fortress. There were two beds in the room, and they looked as if somebody had slept in them somewhat recently. Looking closer, he found a small shred of clothing. He looked at it closer and figured it had come off of Kyle's outfit. "They've been here..." He said quietly. "Where are those two now?" Barbatos left the building and went outside. He looked out and saw the gray sky and barren landscape. "What a pathetic little world..." He pulled out the small Lens that Elraine had given him. "I'll find you, soon..." He set off to look for his victims.

A day later, Barbatos stumbled upon Imen. Not exactly impressed, he started combing over the town, searching for clues as to where his targets were. Barbatos asked many people in the city if they had seen a small blond boy and a girl with pale skin and a frilly pink dress. However, he could not understand any of the people that he spoke to. All the people he had talked to looked at him strangely. Like them, Barbatos had dark skin, but he still seemed out of place, but why?

Barbatos soon figured it out: All the other dark-skinned people had some sort of object on their forehead. And these objects reminded him of... Lens? Why did these people who spoke a strange language wear Lenses on their heads? Soon, Barbatos' patience with these people had worn thin. Apparently nobody had any clue as to what he was saying as much as the feeling was mutual.

His patience gone, he grabbed one of the people and threw them to the ground. Other people around gasped and tried to restrain them. However, Barbatos was much stronger than any of the people, so he threw them aside and pulled out his axe to slay them. After a couple people had been killed, the rest of the passersby ran away, afraid for their lives. With victims lying around his feet, Barbatos examined the Lens-like objects on their foreheads and tried to remove one. After a fight, the object came off, and the victim's forehead was bleeding. Not that he cared. He took another look at the object. Now that he had taken another look at the object, Barbatos realized that it wasn't a Lens. He was ready to cast it aside, but he heard somebody's evil wheezy laughter and stopped.

"Hold on a second, there..." The person said in a language Barbatos could understand. It was a man who was a little shorter than Barbatos who had silver hair who spoke. "You might want to hang onto that..." The man wheezed and laughed again. Barbatos turned to face the man in question.

"Just who are you?" He asked, pointing his axe at the newcomer. The man laughed in his strange way again.

"My name is Hyades..." The man said. "I can see you understand me... And it's all because of that..." He pointed at the object in Barbatos' hand. "I've never seen somebody remove the Elara from another Celestian's head..."

"Celestian?" Barbatos asked. He looked at the object in his hand. "So, this thing's an Elara?"

"Oh?" Hyades chuckled. "You're not Celestian?" After examining Barbatos for a couple seconds, Hyades continued. "Then again, I can tell. You may have dark skin, but you don't have an Elara... Not counting that in your hand..." Hyades walked up next to Barbatos. "That and you don't speak Melnics..."

"Melnics? Is that the language that these people were speaking?" Barbatos asked.

"It's the language I'm speaking, too..." Hyades cackled. "You only hear me in your language because of the Elara..." He stopped and looked Barbatos over once again. "Now, are you going to stay there and keep holding that in your hand? I can help you with that if you need to put it elsewhere..."

"Why are you helping me?" Barbatos asked. "You seem to have some motives..." Hyades laughed.

"Because, I would like your help." He said. "You see, there's somebody that I'm hunting. She's a little girl with dark skin and large, puffy purple hair. Her name is Meredy..." Barbatos scoffed.

"I'm not interested in helping you find this Meredy person..." Hyades stopped laughing.

"Well, she also has these five friends I need to get rid of... There's a red haired man who has a skimpy outfit, a green haired girl in a dress, a blue haired boy in robes, a blond haired boy with red and blue clothes, and a brown haired girl with some really fluffy pink dress..." After hearing these last two descriptions, Barbatos grabbed Hyades by the neck and lifted him into the air.

"Did you say a blond haired boy with red and blue clothes and a brown haired girl with a fluffy pink dress?!?" He said.

"Y-yes, I did..." Hyades said, choking. "I-I can help you find them if you're looking for them..." Barbatos dropped Hyades and smiled.

"I am looking for them... I was ordered to kill the boy and bring the girl back with me to my world..." Hyades returned his feet.

"Yeah, those two are with my target, Meredy." Hyades held out a hand. "Well, does that mean you'll work with me to get to your victims?" Barbatos scratched his chin.

"I don't know..." He said. Hyades smiled.

"I know my way around Celestia, and you have the brawn to take down both of our targets. We're a perfect team... Deal?" Hyades held out a hand. Barbatos looked at the hand for a second.

"Very well..." He grabbed Hyades' hand and shook it. "I do seem to need your help. I only ended up here because of luck." Hyades laughed.

"Now, before we go on, what's your name? You know mine, but I don't seem to have learned yours..." Barbatos let go of his ally's hand.

"My name is Barbatos Goetia..." Hyades smiled. "Now, do you know where those six people are going?"

"I'm pretty sure they're headed to Luishka." Hyades said. "That's where Meredy's mentor lives."

"All right." Barbatos said, pocketing the Elara. "So, will you show me how to get there?"

"Yes, I will." Hyades replied. "Follow me..." Barbatos and Hyades then left the city and set off for Luishka, out to catch up to Meredy's group.

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene:** Uh, oh... This match made in hell doesn't look good for the heroes... Who will be victorious if they meet? We'll find out sometime soon! And yes, I sorta BSed the whole understanding Hyades with the Elara thing, because I don't think Sagura would make an Orz Earring for Barbatos... XD Write reviews, please!


	8. Chapter 7: The Old Man in the Ruins

**Two Destinies Chapter 7: The Old Man in the Ruins**

**Author's Preface: **Argh, at this rate, I'll never finish this story by the end of summer… I really need to pick up my pace here! Perhaps one of these days (or maybe more than one), I'll devote my entire day to writing and nothing else! (Okay, except perhaps eating, drinking, and other life necessities…) Fortunately, I've picked out a decent end point to the journey, and no, it's gonna end before the team gets to fight the final boss. I won't say what it is, though… I have plenty of cool ideas coming, but I need to get the team moving! I own none of these characters!

* * *

"We are finally in Luishka!" Meredy said, twirling around. The others looked around at the city. The entire city was in ruins.

"Geez…" Reid said. "I was not expecting ruins like these…"

"Nor was I…" Keele said. "What happened here?!? This is… Unbelievable…"

"What could have caused such destruction like this?" Reala said. "How long ago did this even occur?"

"Luishka was destroyed a long time ago." Meredy said.

"If it was destroyed a long time ago, why wasn't it rebuilt?" Keele wondered.

"Meredy does not know…" Meredy responded.

"Wait, so Galenos lives here, regardless of the destruction?" Kyle asked.

"Yes." Meredy said. "We need to go north from here to get to Galenos' house." She started to skip off in her usual manner in the direction she had said would lead them to Galenos' house. The others followed behind and gawked at the extent of the destruction.

"Wow…" Reid said. "How could anybody live here? It's so… unsettling…"

"Let's keep going, Reid." Farah said. Reid looked at her and saw that the others had gotten a ways ahead of him while he was looking at the surroundings. Reid picked up his pace to catch up with his friends and they continued to walk behind Meredy.

Eventually, the six travelers ended up at a house that looked like a cracked eggshell. Meredy slowed down once she got to this house and turned around. "This is Galenos' house." She said. "He should be in here." Keele coughed.

"Wait, so he lives in the wreckage, too? He didn't even bother to rebuild his house?" Meredy shook her head.

"It looks much better on the inside." She said. "Do not judge a book by its cover, Keele." Keele turned pink.

"I-I wasn't making any judgments about the interior!" He said. "Who said I was? I was just commenting on the exterior!" Reid chuckled.

"Sure seemed like you were putting down the place as a whole…" He said. "Well, you coming?" The other five had started for the entrance without Keele. Keele's face had turned an even brighter shade of pink.

"W-wait for me!" Keele started to ascend the stairs, but he tripped on his voluminous robes a couple steps up and hit his face on the stairs.

Farah gasped. "Keele, are you okay?" She ran down to where the scholar had tripped and kneeled over him. When Keele looked up at her, his nose was bleeding and had turned black and blue. "Oh, dear!" She said. "Keele, your nose is bleeding! You must have hit the stairs hard…"

"Ouch…" Keele said. "That was a hard fall…" Reid snickered under his breath.

"Is Keele gonna weep like the crybaby he is?" He sneered. "Poor little Keele has a boo-boo on his nose!" Keele shot an angry glare at Reid and then stood up.

"I-I'm fine…" Keele said with his arm placed over his nose. "I'm NOT a crybaby…" Farah stood up and put her hands on her hips.

"Now hold on there, Keele." She said. "I don't want to you getting blood all over your robes, so I'll patch you right up." Keele sighed.

"Fine. But be quick." He said. Farah smiled, and then held out her hands.

"Okay." She said. "Heal!" Farah's palms started to glow blue, and then she released the energy towards Keele, and he was bathed in a blue glow. After the glow receded, Keele's nose was no longer bleeding and had returned to its original hue. Keele rubbed his nose.

"All right." He said. "Let's go." Keele ascended the stairs and Farah followed him. Near the top of the stairs, Keele saw Kyle with his arms crossed indignantly. "What's your problem, Kyle?" Keele asked.

"You didn't even thank Farah!" He said. "She fixed your nose and you can't even say 'thank you' to her?" Keele groaned, and then faced Farah.

"Fine…" Keele grumbled. "Thank you for healing my nose, Farah…" Farah smiled upon being thanked, and then she walked past Keele and stopped in front of Kyle.

"You know, the thanks weren't really necessary." She said. This statement badly puzzled the young swordsman.

"Huh?" Kyle said. "Whaddya mean the thanks weren't necessary? It's always nice to thank somebody when they do something nice for you…" Farah shrugged.

"Well, I don't really expect Keele to thank me out loud anymore… I'm just used to it. I guess you can say that he thanks me in his own way, and he doesn't really need to say it aloud…" Kyle scratched his head.

"Okay…" He said, still rather confused. "I don't get why you wouldn't thank somebody aloud, but…" Kyle shrugged. He felt a bit out of the loop.

"We should get going now." Meredy said. "Don't you guys want to speak with Galenos?" The travelers nodded their heads and entered the dilapidated mansion.

Once inside, the six adventurers walked slowly through a rather battered hallway behind Meredy. They followed her into a shattered laboratory and were somewhat taken aback by the surroundings.

"I thought you said not to judge a book by its cover, Meredy…" Reala said. "The inside looks just like the outside…"

"Not all of it." Meredy said. "Let's keep going." She continued to skip along with the others not far behind.

Eventually, the travelers came upon a section of the house that was not as destroyed as the part they had just walked through. In fact, this section of the house was well cared for and fixed up. Just then, from another room emerged an older gentleman, who seemed a little surprised to have so many guests.

"Hello, Meredy." He said. Meredy walked up next to the man.

"Hello, Galenos! She said. "Meredy is back!" Galenos smiled.

"Yes, I see…" He said. "And with a large group of Inferians, too…"

"Actually…" Kyle piped up. "Reala and I are not from Inferia…" He pointed to the girl he was referring to, who waved to Meredy's friend. Kyle's statement confused Galenos.

"You're not Inferian?" Galenos walked over to Kyle and took one of his hands. "You seem Inferian… You look a lot like the other Inferians in your group…" Kyle took his hand back.

"Well… I…" The blond swordsman was interrupted.

"If you aren't from Inferia, where are you from, then?" Galenos walked up to Reala, now.

"Well…" Reala started. "Kyle and I are from a world called…" She was interrupted by Meredy, who spoke up at that very moment.

"Meredy brought back somebody with Fibrill!" Meredy said, walking over to Reid. The red-haired hunter, who had decided to sit down, looked up at the Celestian girl.

"W-wait…" He said. "What are you…" Reid was interrupted when Meredy grabbed Reid's hand and the usual reaction Reid had when Meredy touched him occurred. "Ow ow ow!" Reid pulled his hand away from Meredy. "What was that for?" Galenos walked over to Reid.

"So, you really do have Fibrill…" He said. Reid shook out his hand that Meredy had grabbed.

"I guess…" He said while recovering.

"By the way…" Galenos said. "I don't believe I caught any of your names. You know mine, so may I have your names?"

"I'm Reid Hershel…" The hunter said while standing up. "And these are my friends Farah Oersted…" Farah waved. "…Keele Zeibel…" Keele nodded. "…Kyle Dunamis…" Kyle flashed a wide grin. "…And Reala." Reala curtsied. After the introductions were done, Reid scratched his head and continued. "So… What exactly is Fibrill anyways?" Galenos scratched his chin.

"So, you don't know about your power?" He said. "Very well, I'll tell you." Keele perked up.

"Wait, you know what Fibrill is?" He said. "Not even I was able to figure that out! What is it?!?" Galenos smiled at Keele's interest.

"Simply put, Fibrill is power." Galenos explained. "But it's not any ordinary power. Fibrill is only possessed by a select few."

"So, Reid's one of those select few?" Kyle said. Galenos nodded.

"It seems so." He said. "However, I need to check to see if his Fibrill is strong enough…" He turned around and started for his lab, but stopped a few steps from the door. "Reid, I will need you to come with me." Keele stepped forward.

"Hold on, Galenos!" The blue-haired scholar said. Galenos turned around. "There are some questions I would like you to answer for me." The older gentleman smiled.

"All right." He said. "Ask away." Keele nodded, and then began his questionnaire.

"Okay. First, what exactly caused the Grand Fall to start?" Galenos paused for a second.

"The Grand Fall was caused by Balir." He said.

"Balir?" Kyle said. "Who's that?"

"Balir is king of Celestia!" Meredy said. Kyle frowned.

"Huh?" He said. "Why would a king want to destroy his kingdom?" Kyle thought of King Woodrow Kelvin of Phandalia and wondered if Woodrow had ever even considered destroying his own kingdom. He highly doubted it.

"And how?" Reala added, snapping Kyle out of his thoughts.

"Balir used the Aurora Artes to begin the Grand Fall." Galenos answered. Farah spoke up this time.

"What are Aurora Artes?" She asked. Galenos turned around.

"Aurora Artes are special abilities that are only usable by those who have Fibrill." Reid took a step backward at this last sentence.

"W-what?!?" He said. "So… I could start the Grand Fall myself if I wanted to?" Galenos laughed.

"Actually, there are two types of Aurora." He said. "There is the Divine Aurora, which is probably what you have, and there is also the Dark Aurora, which is what Balir used to start the Grand Fall."

"So…" Keele said. "If the Dark Aurora can cause the Grand Fall, does that mean only the Divine Aurora can stop it?" Galenos looked at Reid.

"Yes." He said. "This is why I need to figure out if Reid's Fibrill is strong enough to use the Aurora Artes." Reid took a step towards Galenos.

"All right." He said. "How are we going to know if it's strong enough, though?"

"Come with me." Galenos said. "I have the machinery that will be able to determine how strong your Fibrill is." Reid nodded and stepped next to Galenos. "As for the rest of you, these tests might take a while. Why don't you all just stay the night? It's getting late." Farah nodded.

"Good idea." She said. "Where should we go to sleep, though?" Galenos pointed in to his right.

"Through that door there are a bunch of beds." He said. "You can all stay there. Now, let's go, Reid." Galenos and Reid disappeared behind another door, and the rest of the travelers went into the room that Galenos had just pointed out. Once the door had closed behind them, Keele sighed.

"The Aurora Artes…" Keele said. "I wonder if Reid will be able to use them…"

"We'll find out in the morning." Reala said. "Let's just get some sleep." She took Kyle's hand and brought him over a set of beds that were lying near the door. Keele, Meredy, and Farah took three other beds that were in the back of the room. There was one other bed in the back of the room, which Reid could use as soon as he had come back from his test. And thus the adventurers went to sleep… That is, except Keele. He couldn't stop thinking about what Galenos had just told him about the Dark and Divine Auroras.

"I can't believe the Grand Fall was started by the Dark Aurora…" He whispered. "I hope that Reid will be able to help stop the Grand Fall… I hope his Fibrill is strong enough to use the Divine Aurora…" He paused. After a few seconds, he shook his head out. "What am I saying?" He said quietly. "I've never relied upon Reid before… Why do I need to rely on him now?" Keele sighed. "Well… It's not like I have Fibrill… I can't use the Divine Aurora… I guess I'll have to put all my support behind Reid should he be the one who can stop the Grand Fall…"

* * *

"How much longer do I need to stay like this?" Reid asked as Galenos started messing around with things around the hunter's body. Galenos chuckled.

"Not much longer." He said. "Something wrong?"

"Umm… Not really…" Reid said. "It's just that I lost feeling in my arm here a few minutes ago…" He looked at his left arm, which had some kind of device wrapped around it, which was apparently cutting off the circulation in his arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Galenos said as he loosened up the device. "I put that on too tight, didn't I?" Reid chuckled.

"Hey, at least I can feel my arm again." He said. "I'll try not to complain anymore."

"Don't worry, if anything hurts, just tell me and I'll make it more comfortable for you." At that moment, Galenos pulled out a large hypodermic needle whose point was the size of a pencil. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Reid's neck.

"Umm…" Reid asked nervously. "What's that for?"

"Oh, this?" Galenos looked at the needle and then back at Reid. "I just need a small blood sample from you. Is that all right with you?"

"Well, yes…" Reid said. "But do you need to use such a large… YOW!" The large needle poked into Reid's skin at that moment, making Reid yelp in pain. "…Needle?" Reid answered a couple seconds after the needle had been withdrawn from his skin. Galenos looked at Reid.

"Well, no…" He said. "But I couldn't find my small needle, so… Oh! Here it is!" Galenos pulled out a hypodermic needle whose point was the size of a pencil tip. Another bead of sweat rolled down Reid's neck.

"A-anyways…" Reid asked. "Are we done yet?" Galenos smiled.

"Almost." He said. "But the rest of the testing will not be as painful as that blood withdrawal…" Just then, a loud crash was heard from somewhere.

"What was that?!?" Reid said. Galenos scratched his head.

"It didn't come from this room…" He said. "I wonder if something is going on in the room with your friends."

"Lemme go see what's going on…" Reid said. However, Galenos held up his hand.

"May I conclude with the testing first?" He said. "It won't be much longer. Can you be patient? Besides, it's probably nothing to worry about."

"All right…" Reid said, somewhat reluctant. "I just hope nobody's hurt…"

* * *

A few minutes earlier, Keele, who was still restless, had heard something weird from behind the wall. He got out of the bed and crept over to figure out what was going on. Sure enough, he saw that Kyle was thrashing around in his sleep. Keele went over and placed a hand on Kyle's shoulder.

"Hey, Kyle?" He said. "What's wrong? Wake up!" Just then, one of Kyle's hands whacked Keele's hand. Keele removed his hand from the boy's shoulder. "Hey!" He shook the boy. "Are you having another nightmare? Wake up!"

"What's going on?" Reala said, having woken up from hearing the commotion from the bed next to her. "Is something wrong with Kyle?!?"

"I think he's having another nightmare!" Keele said. "And he won't wake up! Hey! Snap out of it!"

"Stay away from me!" A high-pitched voice said from the bed. Kyle launched out of his bed in a flash. Reala noticed that his eyes were still closed.

"Kyle? What's going on?" She said. "Are you okay?" Reala moved closer to Kyle and was ready to wrap her arms around him.

At that moment, Kyle whipped out his sword and slashed the air around him. "Azure Edge!" He yelled, unleashing a blue shockwave at Reala. She dodged the attack, which seemed to have been barely aimed at her. Keele wondered why Kyle would attack Reala.

"Kyle! What's wrong with you?!? Snap out of it!" He yelled.

"Stay back! I won't let you get me, too!" Kyle's sword was now aimed at Keele. "Hell Sword!" His sword swung over his head and towards Keele, fire leaping from the blade. Keele's robes caught fire from the attack.

"Guwah!" Keele yelled as he worked to extinguish his robes. Reala tried to get close to the attacking swordsman without getting hit by his blade.

"Kyle! Stop it!" She said. "Please stop! Before you hurt your friends!" Her persuasion failed to get through to Kyle. He pinned Reala to a wall and held up his sword to her neck. Reala screamed.

"I refuse to be taken prisoner! I'll fight to the very end!" Kyle yelled. Reala saw that his eyes were still closed. Was Kyle… sleep-fighting? What was he seeing?

"Kyle!" Reala yelled. "You need to wake up! It's me, Reala! Don't hurt me!"

"What's going on here?" Farah and Meredy appeared. Farah put her hands on her hips. "Kyle, what are you doing?" She said.

"I think he's having a nightmare…" Keele said. "…And he's fighting us as if he was fighting whatever it is that showed up in his nightmare!"

"Dammit, there's more of you?!?" Kyle said. "No matter how many of you there are, I'll fend you all off! You won't take me alive!" At that moment, Kyle started gathering energy at the tip of his sword. However, he wasn't wearing his Lens.

"Stop!" Reala said. "You might kill yourself! Kyle, don't cast that spell!"

"Meredy found the Lens!" Meredy said, holding up Kyle's belt, which had the Lens attached to it. "Meredy will make sure Kyle does not kill himself with his spell!"

"Wait, you're helping him cast the spell, Meredy?!?" Keele said, grabbing Meredy's arm. "He might kill us if he's able to cast it!"

"Kyle will kill himself if Kyle does not use this Lens!" Meredy said.

"Great storm of Sylph, I call upon your wrath…" Kyle began chanting.

"No!" Meredy said as she launched herself out of Keele's grasp and dashed towards Kyle.

"Bring the tempest of fury to blow away my enemies with… Ah!" Kyle's incantation was interrupted by Meredy putting the belt on him. "What the?!? What the hell did you put on me?!?" Kyle whipped around and slashed at Meredy. "You can't restrain me! Scattering Leaf!" He slashed at Meredy three times, knocking her over. (Author's Note: Scattering Leaf is supposed to be a fanslation of Chirihajin.) "I can still take you out, regardless of this thing!" He touched the belt that Meredy had placed on him, and the Lens began to glow green.

"Uh, oh…" Keele said as Kyle restarted the incantation.

"Great storm of Sylph, I call upon your wrath! Bring the tempest of fury to blow away my enemies with the force of a hurricane! Voltic Heat!" Kyle thrust his sword into the air and a green flash of light flew into the sky and just as quickly descended back towards the ground and, as it hit the ground, a heavy vortex of wind slammed into everybody, Kyle included, sending them into the surrounding walls. Soon, everybody was returning to their senses. However, Kyle was slumped against a wall still. He had dropped his sword when his spell backfired on him, and it slashed him in the leg. The sword lay a small distance away, with some blood coating its blade. Reala, upon regaining consciousness, ran over to Kyle.

"Kyle? Are you all right? First Aid!" She held her hand over Kyle's bloody leg and her Lens glowed blue, followed by her hand. Soon, the injury was gone, and so was the blood. Keele stood over Kyle and looked at him closely.

"Well, he's finally calmed down…" Keele said. "Hopefully he's gonna return to his senses now." Just as Keele finished speaking, Reid entered the room.

"What the hell happened in here?!?" He said, looking at the utter destruction that used to be the room. "Geez, this room looks like the outside of the building…"

"Kyle wouldn't wake up from a nightmare…" Farah said. "He started attacking us. However, with his last attack, he managed to knock himself out, too." Reid looked at the blond swordsman and his friend kneeling over him.

"Is he okay now?" Reid said. Reala looked up at the red-haired hunter.

"I hope so… She said. "I don't want him to hurt us anymore…" At this moment, Kyle's eyes fluttered open slowly.

"W-what happened?" He groaned. "Where am I?" Kyle looked around, and then up at Reala. "Reala… Ugh… My back is killing me…" Fully awake now, he took another glance at the surroundings. "Whoa! What happened here?!?" Keele scoffed.

"This was all YOUR fault…" He said. Kyle stood up.

"Whaddya mean this was all my fault?!?" He said. "I don't remember doing this!"

"Kyle was fighting in his sleep." Meredy said. "And then Kyle cast a spell! If Meredy had not put Kyle's belt back on, Kyle might have died!" Kyle looked down and saw that he was wearing his belt again.

"Huh…" He said. "I AM wearing my belt… I don't sleep with that on… Let's see… Why would I be fighting in my sleep?"

"Perhaps you were having a bad dream?" Reala said. "Do you remember what you were dreaming of?" Kyle looked down at the ground.

"It… started off where I was talking to my father again… But… These dark shadow things showed up and captured him… And they wanted to capture me, too… I tried to fight them off…"

"They weren't the only things you were trying to fight off…" Keele said. "You had actually unsheathed your sword and were using your Artes on us…" Kyle looked surprised.

"W-what? Really?!?" His face turned red. "Umm… Are you all okay at least?" Reala wrapped her arms around Kyle.

"Fortunately, we are." She said. "And, thanks to Meredy, so are you. You used a High Tier spell, which probably would have killed you if Meredy hadn't put your Lens back onto your body.

"I did?" Kyle asked. "I've never used High Tier spells before… I guess I'm getting stronger and stronger!"

"I just hope we don't need to fight you again if you get any stronger…" Keele said. "You might have killed us with your spell if it was any stronger." Kyle looked down.

"I'm sorry, you guys…" He said. "I didn't mean to fight with you… I guess I got wrapped up too tight in my nightmare… You'll forgive me, right?"

"Of course." Farah said. "I mean, it wasn't exactly your fault, and nobody got seriously injured." The blond swordsman smiled for the first time since he had awoken.

"Thanks!" He said.

"Now, let's try to get some sleep after this crazy night." Farah said.

"Umm… Where are Kyle and Reala gonna sleep, though?" Reid noted. "Their beds got totally trashed…"

"Don't worry." Kyle said. "I think there's a couch out in the other room. We can rest on that. Right, Reala?" She nodded, and they headed out into the other room. The rest of the night ended up being uneventful.

* * *

In the morning, Galenos came out of his laboratory and was surprised to find two teenagers sleeping on his couch. He chuckled a little under his breath, and then went into the room to find a very startling sight. Much to his dismay, half of the guest room had been trashed, and two of the beds were completely unfixable. Despite the destruction, Reid, Farah, Meredy, and Keele were resting rather soundly. However, as soon as Galenos had taken a few steps into the room, Meredy woke up.

"Galenos…" She said. "Does Galenos have the results yet?" Galenos smiled.

"Yes, Meredy, I do." He said. "But I want to share them with Reid first, so can you please wake him up?" Meredy shot out of her bed, and Farah started to wake up.

"Oh, Galenos…" She said. "Let me guess, you have the results, right?" Galenos nodded.

"Correct. Now, could you assist Meredy with waking up your friend Reid?" Farah smiled.

"Don't worry." She said. "I know just the trick…" She walked over and bent over to whisper in Reid's ear. "Hey, Reid…" She said quietly. "I made some hot sausage omelets for you…" Almost instantaneously, Reid's head shot into the air.

"Did somebody say hot sausage omelets?!?" He said, close to salivating. "Where are they, Farah?!?" Keele awoke at this spectacle.

"Honestly, Reid…" He groaned. "Your stomach is like a bottomless black hole… There's no satiating your hunger, is there?" Farah chuckled.

"Sorry, Reid…" She said. "There aren't any omelets made right now…" Reid turned and gave Farah the puppy-dog eyes, and the green-haired martial artist chuckled. "But don't worry, I'll make some for you if you'd like." Reid's face lit up like a Christmas tree upon hearing that he would be enjoying omelets in the near future.

"Before that…" Galenos interjected. "I have the results from your tests last night, Reid." Reid turned and faced Galenos.

"Really?" He said. "How are they?" Galenos chuckled.

"Quite desirable, actually." He said. "It seems you have very strong Fibrill, Reid." Reid beamed at the good news. "However…" Galenos continued, and Reid's face turned serious. "There are some conditions you must meet before your true power can be realized." Reid scratched his head.

"What might those conditions be?" He wondered. Galenos shrugged.

"I need more time to figure that out." He said. "In the mean time, perhaps you can search for more allies in the city of Peruti…" At that moment, the two adventurers who had been sleeping in the other room entered this one.

"What's fruity?" Kyle said, obviously having misheard Galenos. Keele sighed.

"First Caramels, now Fruity…" He groaned. Aloud, Keele said, "He said Peruti, not fruity, Kyle. Open your ears…" The blond swordsman gave a sheepish chuckle.

"Okay…" He said. "Now may I ask what a Peruti is?" Keele rolled his eyes.

"Peruti is a port city." Galenos answered. "It lies a ways away from here, but you can get there much faster if you take the Craymel Express part of the way there…" Reid groaned.

"Great…" He said after sighing. "We trashed the train on the way up here… How long will it take to get there on foot?"

"On foot, the journey will last you about a week…" Galenos answered. Kyle moaned.

"Ugh, a week?" He complained. "And there's no other faster way?" The old man chuckled.

"There is ONE other way…" Galenos said. "And that would be to use an automated mine car. You should be able to rent one from the people at the station for a price."

"How much would that cost?" Farah asked.

"Honestly, I couldn't tell you…" Galenos said. "I'd guess around 5,000 Gald… Of course, the Craymel Express would have been faster and cheaper, but that option seems out of the question… Of course, if you take a mine car, it'll only take you to the Mine of Gnome. You'll have to walk the rest of the way there."

"How many days would taking a mine car shave off?" Reala asked.

"Oh, I'd guess around two or three…" Galenos answered. "And, while at the mine, you can try and recruit the Greater Craymel of Earth, Gnome."

"Lose a couple days of walking and be able to recruit a Greater Craymel?" Keele said. "That sounds good to me. What do you guys think?" His five companions all agreed that the mine car was the best choice.

"All right, then." Galenos said. "I guess I will be seeing you off, then…" He started walking towards the exit. "Check back every so often to see if I've found any new information regarding the Aurora Artes and Reid's Fibrill. I wish you all luck and I hope you will be able to recruit the Greater Craymel of Earth." At this point, the travelers had followed Galenos to the exit. "Farewell!" The old man said. The six adventurers said their farewells and departed from Galenos' place to begin heading back to Luishka Station.

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene: **Wow, another long ramble… And I'm finally through with my brain blockage! Yay! Next chapter is the Mine of Gnome! And, after that… Chat's Hut! I can't wait to start working on those chapters! (Yes, I'm planning for at least two chapters to encompass Chat's hut…) Also, thanks again to my friend Jtblitz of Tales Series Forums for his awesome fanslations! Scattering Leaf for the win! (What I like about his fanslation is that Scattering Leaf has the same number of syllables as Chirihajin…) Of course, if Tales of VS or Radiant Mythology 2 is localized in the United States, Kyle's Artes will FINALLY have official localizations. I hope we get one of those two games here in the US! (Preferably the latter so we can localizations for Reala's Artes, too...) *crosses fingers* Anyways, as usual, reviews, please and thank you! ^_^


	9. Chapter 8: Into the Mines

**Two Destinies Chapter 8: Into the Mines**

**Author's Preface**: Wow… Who would have thought this summer is already more than halfway done? In fact, it's almost my half-birthday… (Which is July 29th, by the way) Anyways, I'm never gonna get done with this story by the end of summer… Oh, well… Guess I'll just continue typing my way through the school year… However, I'm gonna try to get as far as possible with this story BEFORE I head back to school! That's my goal for the rest of this summer! And be sure to keep reading! None of these characters are mine, since they already belong to Bandai-Namco!

* * *

"All right, so we're back in Luishka Station…" Keele said. "Now, we just need to rent a mine car so that we can head for the Mine of Gnome."

"Yeah, but…" Reid added, "Who rents out mine cars here?" He looked around at the different vendors and saw them selling everything from food to weapons, but not mine cars.

"Don't worry…" Farah said. "Galenos said we'd be able to rent one here, so there's gotta be somebody here who sells them."

"Excuse me…" Keele stopped a passerby who just happened to be close. "Do you know where I can rent a mine car?"

"Sorry…" The person said. "I haven't got a clue…" After saying this, the person continued on their way. Keele turned to his friends.

"L-let's just keep trying…" He said. "We can't give up just yet…" Nearby, Kyle was trying the same thing Keele had done with another person.

"Excuse me…" He said. The man Kyle had talked to was quite a few inches taller than the blond teenager and was rather heavy-set… Or was it muscular? It was hard to tell with his loose clothes… The man gave Kyle a hard stare.

"What is it, Kid?" He said with a deep, gravely voice that could send shivers down your spine. This would have probably unnerved any other teenager, but not Kyle.

"I was wondering if you knew where my friends and I could find a mine car to rent." The man's dark eyes met Kyle's blue eyes for a couple seconds, and, all of a sudden, the man pushed Kyle to the ground. Reala gasped.

"Kyle!" She said, running over to the fallen swordsman. "Are you okay?" Kyle sat up, having only injured his pride, and glared at the man who had pushed him over.

"What the hell was that for?!?" He said angrily. "I just politely asked you a question! That's no way to act!"

"I don't need to answer to scum like you Inferians…" He said. This statement angered Kyle farther.

"I am NOT Inferian!" He yelled. "I'm from…" At that moment, Reala clapped a hand over Kyle's mouth to silence her enraged friend.

"I'm sorry…" She said to the man. "My friend here is just tired. He's had a long day." Kyle gave Reala a hard stare, but said nothing since he was still being muffled by Reala's hand. The man glared at Kyle and Reala once more, and then walked away. Once he had walked away, Reala let go of Kyle, and he almost instantaneously whipped out his sword and stood up.

"Dammit! That guy's got a lot of nerve!" He barked. "What gives? Why did he push me like that? That guy's gonna get a…" At that moment, Reala had wrapped her arms around Kyle. Not only was she trying to restrain him, but she was also trying to pacify her angry friend with a hug.

"Geez…" Reid said from nearby. "I've never seen you explode with rage like that before, Kyle… What's gotten into you?" Kyle sighed, and Reala dropped her arms, thinking it was safe to let go of him now. Fortunately, Kyle had calmed down and sheathed his sword.

"I don't know…" Kyle said softly. "It's like I couldn't control my anger… But I don't usually anger easily anyways…"

"Seriously, it's not like you to explode into rage over being pushed from what I've seen…" Farah commented. "Are you tired or something?" Just then, a familiar voice called out from nearby.

"Meredy found somebody who will rent us a mine cart!" Meredy's voice rang out from nearby.

"Really?" Reid said, running over to where Meredy was standing. She was next to a woman who was a little taller than her.

"Hello." The woman said. "Do you need a mine car?"

"Yes, we do." Keele said, appearing by Reid's side. "How much will it be to rent one?"

"How many of you are there?" She said.

"There are six of us." Farah said.

"Having six people means you'll need two cars." The woman said. "And they cost 5,000 Gald apiece."

"Ten thousand Gald?!?" Keele exclaimed. He looked like he was going to faint at any minute.

"Should we do it?" Reid asked. "It is a rather hefty price…"

"I think it's worth it." Farah said. "At least we'll get to Peruti faster if we do it."

"Well, Keele?" Reid said. "May I have the wallet?" Keele glared at Reid.

"There's a reason I don't let you keep the wallet, Reid…" Keele said. "But I guess I'll give you the Gald needed for the purchase…" Keele pulled out the ten thousand Gald and gave it to Reid. Reid smiled.

"Looks like we're gonna be going with two mine cars, please." He said to the saleswoman, handing her the Gald.

"Thank you." She said, bowing. "Now, the carts hold three people, one who operates the car and two passengers. I'll get you all set up to go. Meet me on the tracks in an hour." She ran off after saying this, leaving the six adventurers alone.

"Okay, so we have an hour to ourselves, now…" Kyle said.

"We should figure out who goes in which cart right now." Keele said, scratching his chin.

"And who should drive each car…" Meredy added.

"Right…" Reid said. "Keele and Meredy should operate, in my opinion."

"All right…" Farah said. "But does that mean you and I go in one car and Kyle and Reala take the other?"

"Fine by me." Reala said.

"Then Kyle and Reala are in Meredy's car, then…" Meredy said. Keele took a double-take at this statement.

"W-what?!?" He said. "B-but…" Reid put an arm around Keele's shoulder.

"Aww, c'mon, Keele!" Reid said. "Doncha wanna be with your two childhood friends?" Keele muttered something about not being friends with Reid when they were younger under his breath.

"Well, that's settled, then." Farah said. "Meredy will go with Kyle and Reala and Keele will go with Reid and I. Perfect." Keele groaned.

"Sorry, Keele…" Reid said. "Five against one… Right?" He looked at Kyle and Reala to confirm what he just said.

"Yeah, it's okay by us." Reala said. Kyle gave a thumb's up. Keele grumbled under his breath.

"Fine…" Keele said grudgingly. "Let's go, then…" Meredy chuckled.

"Silly Keele!" She said. "The cars are not ready for an hour!"

"Oh… right…" Keele said, face turning pink. "S-should we just do some shopping, then?"

"Might as well…" Farah said. "Let's just figure out how to spend this next hour…" The others nodded, and then set off to spend the next hour doing whatever they wanted.

* * *

When an hour had elapsed, the six adventurers were all at the tracks and saw that two rather small cars had been set up one behind the other on the tracks.

"There you are!" Said the woman from earlier, noticing her customers. "I have everything all set up. So, have you decided who's going to go in which car?" Reid stepped forward.

"Yep." He said. "We're ready to go." Reid turned to face his friends. "So, do you wanna take the first car, you guys?"

"Why not?" Keele said. Under his breath, he added, "It's not like I can talk you out of it anyways…"

"All right." Farah said. "Meredy, we'll see you guys at the mine, okay?" Meredy spun around.

"Okay, Meredy will see you there." With that, the two groups split up and took to the mine cars. The first mine car left, and the second one departed soon after, and they both hurdled off into the unknown.

* * *

The two cars traveled along at a decent pace, which was not as fast as the Craymel Express, but was still faster than running. After the initial startup, Meredy and Keele did not really need to do anything but watch to see if anything was coming onto the tracks. However, since the cars were given a wide berth by the wildlife, this was not a problem. So, instead, the six adventurers looked up into the sky.

"Wow…" Reid said. "It's nothing like watching the clouds back in Inferia, but it sure is peaceful looking at the clouds here in Celestia…"

"I agree." Farah said. "It's like all our worries float away when we stare at the clouds…"

"Interesting…" Keele said. "The Celestian clouds are different than those in Inferia… In Inferia, most of the clouds are cumulus clouds… Here, they are mostly stratus clouds…" A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Reid's neck.

"Leave it to Keele to overanalyze things…" He said, somewhat embarrassed by Keele. Farah chuckled.

The three passengers in the other car were also daydreaming with their heads in the clouds. Kyle sighed.

"It's during the moments like these when I get to relax when I start to think of home…" He said. "When I'm thinking about it, I miss my mom and my friends…"

"I wonder how our friends back home are doing…" Reala said. "I'm pretty sure they miss us, but what are they doing without us?"

"Do Kyle and Reala know how they are going to get home?" Meredy said. Reala sighed.

"No, Meredy…" She said. "We didn't come here on our own accord, and we don't know how to get back…" Kyle closed his eyes.

"Damn that witch Elraine…" He said. "It's because of her that we ended up here in Celestia…"

"Are your friends looking for Kyle and Reala?" Meredy asked.

"I don't know…" Kyle said. "I think they know we were taken very far away…"

"Knowing Loni, he's probably looking for a way to get to where we are…" Reala said.

"Loni… Damn, I really miss him…" Kyle said beyond a sigh. All of a sudden, there was a small yelp from Reala.

"Why is it so dark?!?" She said.

"We must be in the mine!" Meredy said. "We should be okay if we stay in the car."

"Well, there goes my cloud-gazing time…" Reid said in the other car, sighing. He sat up. "Well, looks like we're in the mine now…" Just then, there was a loud thumping from nearby, and a pack of minotaur-like monsters came charging out at the cars.

"W-what are those?!?" Keele said, shocked. "Can't this thing go any faster?!?"

"Those are Hard Horns!" Meredy's voice yelled out from nearby. "They live in the mines!"

"We gotta make sure they don't ram into the mine cars!" Farah said. "Or else we might get derailed!"

"Hey, Hard Heads!" Kyle taunted while unsheathing his sword. "Take this! Falling fury of heaven! Burn Strike!" A red light fired from Kyle's sword into the air and exploded into fans of flames, sending a few Hard Horns back.

"Great idea!" Reid said. "Keele, you can use your spells, too!"

"…Fine…" Keele said, pulling out his wand. "Aqua Edge!" Three blades of water fired out his wand at one of the Hard Horns, knocking it over. Keele's face lit up. "Guys! They're weak against water!"

"Great…" Reid said. "The only water spell you have is that one you just used, Keele… And the other car has the two mages who can use water magic…" He looked at Reala and Meredy in the other car.

"Splash!" Reala cast her spell and drowned a few more Hard Horns.

"Spread!" A few more Hard Horns fell with Meredy's spell. The two girls alternated spells, and soon, most of the Hard Horns were defeated. The cars rolled on safely out of the area and farther into the mine.

"Whew…" Reid said. "At least that's done…"

"It's getting kinda dark in here…" Keele said.

"I can't even see the other car…" Farah said, looking out behind the vehicle.

"Umm, that's because the other car ISN'T behind us…" Keele said. Reid shot out of his seat.

"WHAT?!?" He said. "Where are they?!? Keele, can't you stop this thing?!?"

"All right, all right…" Keele said. He took the cart and brought it to a stop.

"Meredy? Kyle? Reala?" Reid yelled out.

"Are you guys okay?" Farah yelled out as well.

"Do we really have to back-track?" Keele said. "Perhaps if we went forward, they'll catch up to us…"

"What? No way! We need to find them, not the other way around!" Farah said, crossing her arms. "We should wait here…"

"But what if they're in trouble?" Reid said. "They might need our help!"

"Well, we should wait here for a little while…" Farah said. "And then, if they don't show up, we can go after them, deal?"

"Fine." Reid and Keele said.

"Okay, so let's wait." Farah said, sitting down. The other two followed suit.

* * *

A little ways back, a mine car lay tipped over on its side with one of the sides dented inward. The three passengers who had been riding in the car were sprawled out on the ground, all unconscious. A Hard Horn was nearby, attacking the car that it had just derailed, not aware of the passengers not being inside anymore. After a while, the Hard Horn got irritated and kicked the car one last time. It turned and saw the knocked out people and just stared for a couple seconds. Suddenly, there was a movement. Meredy was regaining consciousness first, and she started to stir. This movement triggered something in the Hard Horn's head to start charging at her. Meredy snapped back to full consciousness just in time to get rammed by the enemy and get launched into the air.

"Oww…" She said after landing on her back. "Meredy hurt…" Just then, she noticed that the enemy was eyeing Kyle's vibrant red and blue outfit and was getting ready to strike. Kyle was still knocked out. "Uh, oh! Kyle is in trouble!" She ran over to the unconscious boy and pulled out her Craymel Cage. "Spread!" She cast the spell at the enemy, but it dodged the attack during a charge. Meredy jumped out of the way of the attack just in time. It just so happened that the charge also missed its original target just barely. The Hard Horn continued charging until it rammed into a cavern wall. Hard. The shaking that occurred from the impact alerted a few more Hard Horns to the battleground. Now Meredy was up against more enemies.

However, Meredy heard something stirring from behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she realized that she was no longer going to be fighting alone. Kyle was staggering to his feet. He brushed some dirt out of his golden hair, rather unaware of what was going on… That is, until he looked at Meredy.

"Meredy, what are you doing?" He asked. Just then, he looked beyond Meredy and answered his own question. Kyle unsheathed his sword, and the Hard Horns began to charge. "Dammit, there's more of them?" He said. "Let's take them out!" Kyle dashed towards the Hard Horns and Meredy began casting. The Hard Horns continued their relentless charge. Kyle hopped out of the path of the first Hard Horn's charge and kicked it in the side to veer it off course, or otherwise, it would have rammed into Meredy. However, the second Hard Horn slammed hard into Kyle's side and threw him into the air. Kyle quickly recovered mid-air and sent an Azure Edge hurtling toward the enemy. Meredy unleashed her spell, which drowned the first Hard Horn that had charged by her earlier. She turned to face the other enemies and saw Kyle trying to fight off three surrounding enemies at once.

"Meredy will help Kyle!" She said. Once again, she started casting. "Quickie, distract them!" The blue animal leaped off of Meredy's shoulders and charged at the Hard Horns, only to be nearly trampled on as the enemies repeatedly knocked Kyle into one another, as if they were playing some kind of game with the poor boy.

"KWEE-KIE!" Quickie yelled, trying to distract the Hard Horns so they would stop playing their strange game of Pass the Person. It didn't work. The Hard Horns were fixated on their brutal game. Kyle couldn't take much more punishment.

"Meredy, help!" He yelled. "I can't take this any longer!" Just then, when being pushed backwards, Kyle stumbled back upon a stone in the ground and began to fall. However, one of the Hard Horns thought this was still part of the game and punted Kyle in the head. The impact of the blow instantly made Kyle black out and he fell over, extremely injured. At this point, Reala had awakened to see this terrible display and Meredy had finished preparing her spell.

"Spread!" Meredy said, throwing her hand into the air. A geyser of water came up under the Hard Horns and Kyle, launching them all into the air. Reala dashed towards Kyle and he fell into her grasp, still unconscious. The Hard Horns fell around them, defeated. After a few seconds of holding Kyle in her arms, she fell to the ground, unable to carry the weight of the boy in her arms any longer.

"Kyle!" She yelled, holding her hand over his body. "Please be okay… Heal!" Her Lens and hand glowed blue, and the injuries Kyle had sustained were fading away. However, he did not reawaken. Reala placed an ear on his chest to listen for his heartbeat. She was relieved to hear his heart beating, but he still would not wake up. "Okay, I'll try this… Resurrection!" Kyle's body glowed white for a second, and then faded back to its original colors. His eyes opened slowly, and Reala gave him a large hug.

"Are they… gone?" He asked quietly. Reala looked into his tired-looking eyes.

"Yes." She said. "Meredy defeated them all. I got so worried when you got kicked in the head like that… I'm so glad you're all right now…"

"Not… Exactly…" He said, trying to smile. "My head… I think I got a concussion…"

"Can you stand up?" Reala asked, loosening her hold. Kyle staggered to his feet, but then fell over onto Reala seconds later.

"I think that's a no…" Kyle said, still on top of Reala. "Sorry about that…" He rolled off of Reala, and she chuckled.

"Here…" She said. "Let me help you to your feet." Reala held out a hand to Kyle, who took it and rose to his feet again. As he started to go down again, Reala put herself under Kyle's arm, supporting his body. Kyle turned and gave Reala a weak smile.

"Kyle! Reala!" Meredy said. "We should go find Reid, Keele, and Farah now!" She ran up next to the other two and saw what was going on. "Is Kyle hurt?" She asked. Kyle gave a weak chuckle.

"Something happened and I can't stand on my own two feet right now…" He said. "I think I'm… Whoa, where did you go, Meredy?"

"Meredy is right here, Kyle." She said. "Meredy has not gone anywhere."

"Kyle, are you okay?" Reala said. Kyle shook out his head and looked back towards Meredy.

"I dunno…" He said. "Everything seems blurry. Where did Meredy go?"

"Kyle has a concussion." Meredy said. "Kyle has the symptoms. Let Meredy heal Kyle."

"But I already used my healing spells…" Reala said. "That should have cured his concussion…"

"Reala needs to use a high-level healing spell in order to cure a concussion." Meredy said.

"Oh, so Heal doesn't cut it?" Reala said. "Very well, let me try this again, Kyle." The injured swordman turned his head to face Reala, but it looked like his eyes were focused on something behind her. She placed her hand on the back of Kyle's head. "Light of healing… Cure!" Her Lens once again glowed blue and then her hand did, too. Kyle closed his eyes as his body was bathed in blue light. When the spell had faded, Kyle opened his eyes.

"Is Kyle all better?" Meredy asked. Kyle turned to face Meredy and flashed a wide grin.

"Well, I can see you again, if that's any indication." He said. "I guess I AM all better!" He took the arm that had wrapped around Reala off of her in order to give a thumbs up. Miraculously, he was able to stand on his own two feet without Reala to support him. Reala wrapped her arms around Kyle's torso upon seeing this.

"Oh, you're all right!" She said. Kyle put his arms down around Reala and returned her hug.

"We should look for the others." Meredy said. "Reid, Keele, and Farah are probably looking for us." The other two nodded and ran off behind Meredy to search for the other half of their group.

* * *

Reid, Keele, and Farah were still relaxing and hoping that their friend would reunite with them. Keele sighed.

"It's been ten minutes…" He said. "Maybe we should start to look for them." Reid stood up.

"Hmm… Maybe we should…" He said. "They probably aren't too far back. If it took them this long already, they're probably in trouble." Farah stood up.

"All right." She said. "So, let's start looking." Just then, she heard something from nearby. It sounded like a human voice.

"Reid! Farah! Keele!" It said. The voice belonged to Meredy, who was calling out to them.

"That's Meredy!" Keele said, standing up. "Come on!" He started to run in the direction Meredy's voice had come from. "Meredy!" He yelled.

"Keele!" She responded. Just then, she, Reala, and Kyle appeared from around a corner. The team was then quickly reunited.

"Well, everybody's back together now." Farah said.

"What exactly happened to you guys?" Reid asked.

"Our car got rammed and derailed." Reala answered. "The Hard Horn that had knocked over our car also pretty much destroyed it…" Keele groaned.

"I just hope we don't have to pay extra for not being able to return the car to that woman…" The others chuckled, and Reala continued retelling the story of what had happened. Farah looked at Kyle when it was done.

"You sure you're okay now?" She asked him. Kyle smiled.

"Yep, I am now." He said. "I just ran all the way here, so that says something." Farah smiled.

"That's good." She said. "All right, let's continue, then. We need to find the Summon Spirit Gnome so we can have it join us."

"Then let's begin traversing the mine." Keele said. "Let's try to get as far as we can before we become too tired to progress." The team set off deeper into the mine, guided by the glow of mine lamps.

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene: **Wow, this chapter took me WAY too long to write… I got badly distracted while writing this chapter… I hope this doesn't happen too often, or, otherwise, I'll NEVER get this story done… Anyways, I'm sorry if the end seems a little rushed. Other than that, thanks for reading! Please give reviews, as usual! (Seriously, maybe that's starting to be a given and I need to stop saying that…)


	10. Chapter 9: Gonna Go Gnome

**Two Destinies Chapter 9: Gonna Go Gnome**

**Author's Preface: **Yeahh… Sorry for the bad pun in the title… I couldn't resist. Well, hopefully this chapter runs smoother than the last one… MSN Messenger is such a distraction… XD Yeah, sorry about that… Here goes nothing! I own none of these characters!

* * *

"Well, looks like we're officially in the mine now…" Keele said, looking at the surrounding cave walls. "These walls look definitely carved out by humans…"

"Actually…" Meredy said. "The mine was carved out by Craymels long ago. Humans only expanded the cave to mine for precious minerals."

"Wow…" Farah said. "This sure is interesting… To think Craymels had carved quite a bit of this…"

"Brr…" Reid said, shivering. "It's kinda cold in here… I thought this was the home of the Craymel of Earth, not the Craymel of Ice…"

"Hmm…" Meredy said. "It's probably because the sun never gets down here…"

"Let's get moving." Keele said. "Meredy's right, we have no idea if it's day or night, so we should just walk until we're tired." The others nodded and walked along. Eventually, they came across a boulder.

"A boulder?" Reid said. "Is there any way we can break this?"

"Earth magic could break the boulder…" Meredy said. "But we don't have Gnome yet…"

"I have that kind of magic." Kyle said. "Lemme do this… Stone…" All of a sudden, Kyle was interrupted as Reala put her hand over his mouth.

"Kyle, did you forget?" She said. "We shouldn't use any magic unless we have those Craymels stored in our Lenses… Or else we could die!" Kyle's face turned pink.

"Eheheh…" He said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I nearly forgot… I was so used to being able to cast most of my spells thanks to Keele…" Kyle looked at the blue haired scholar, who was examining the rock.

"Looks like there are lots of cracks in this rock…" He said. "If we had something like dynamite, we could blast this rock to pieces and easily progress through…"

"Hey, guys…" Reid said, having wandered a ways back. "I wonder what's in here?" He disappeared into a hole in the cave wall. Farah called out to him.

"Reid, what are you doing?!?" She said. "You don't know what's in there!" Just then, Reid's ginger hair reappeared from within the hole.

"Relax, Farah…" He said. "It looks like a miner's retreat in here. Come on!" Reid beckoned to his friends.

"What is in there, Reid?" Meredy asked. Reid's head once again disappeared into the hole, and it returned a few seconds later.

"Well, there's not much…" He said. "Although there is a shovel, a key, and a pack of dynamite in a closet in here…" Farah gasped.

"Dynamite?!?" She said. "Bring it here!" Reid shrugged, and then disappeared once again. A few seconds later, he came out of the hole in the wall holding a pack of dynamite. If the dynamite had once been red, it wasn't anymore, since it had faded to more of a tan color. Keele scratched his chin.

"That stuff looks really old…" He said. "I just hope it'll work…" Keele took one of the dynamite sticks from Reid and examined it closer. "Well, the fuse is dry, so it should be functional… That is, if the explosives inside are still dry…"

"Hey, there's only one way to find out…" Kyle said, holding out his sword. "Flame Drive!" A fireball came out of the tip of the sword and lit the fuse on the stick, which began to hiss. Keele began to juggle the dynamite in his hands.

"Kyle, you idiot!" He yelled. "You're not supposed to light the fuse when it's in somebody's hand! Gaah!" Keele flung the dynamite over his head as to get it away from him so he wouldn't explode along with the stick. It just so happened he had thrown the stick right underneath the rock that blocked the travelers' route. A second later, there was a loud explosion, which caused everybody to cover their ears to avoid going deaf, and the rock exploded into many pieces. The travelers smiled upon seeing the blockage destroyed.

"Perfect!" Reid said. "Now, shall we continue?" He walked toward the new pile of debris and into the area that lay just beyond that had been inaccessible before. The others followed. While walking, Keele confronted Kyle about what had happened.

"You know, sometimes you amaze me…" He said. Kyle looked at Keele with his innocent blue eyes. "Your stupidity nearly blew my head off, but it also opened the way…"

"Let's keep going." Farah said, a ways ahead of them. "Come on, you two." The two stragglers jogged to catch up to the rest of the group.

* * *

The group progressed through the cave for a while, finding hidden treasures and blowing up rocks along the way. All of a sudden, Reala dropped to her knees and sighed exhaustedly. The team turned around and Kyle ran over to where his friend had stopped.

"Something wrong, Reala?" He asked. Reala looked up at Kyle and smiled feebly.

"I-I'm all right…" She said. "I'm…" Just then, Reala fell forward and, thanks to a split-second reaction from Kyle, into her friend's arms, nearly losing consciousness.

"Reala? REALA!" Kyle yelled to the girl in his arms. "HEY! What's wrong?!?" Reala didn't respond.

"Is Reala hurt?" Meredy said. Kyle glared at Meredy.

"What?" He said. "That can't be possible. We haven't gotten into any major confrontations since the ordeal with the Hard Horns, and even then, she didn't do anything…" After hearing this, Keele walked over to Reala and pulled out a Spectacles to see what was wrong.

"Hmm…" He said, looking through the Spectacles. "It seems that… That's odd… Uh, oh…"

"What's wrong, Keele?!?" Kyle said anxiously. "Is she all right?!?"

"This isn't good…" Keele said. "It seems she's sick…"

"Sick?" Farah said. "Can't we use a Panacea Bottle to cure her illness, then?" Keele shook his head.

"It's not that kind of illness, Farah…" He said. "It seems she has anemia… But since when? Celestia's normally cold temperatures weren't bothering her… Or were they?" Kyle stared at Reala again and turned his head back towards Keele seconds later.

"What exactly is anemia, Keele?" He asked. Keele sighed.

"Well, it's…" Keele scratched his chin. "Erm… It's a condition where there isn't enough iron in her blood and she loses body heat faster than you or I do… I think… It's something like that…" Farah walked over to Reala.

"Let's call it a night, then." She said, pulling off her red shirt. "Here, Kyle, this should keep her a little bit warmer…" She handed Kyle the shirt, who quickly put it on Reala.

"We should also make a fire." Meredy suggested. "That should keep Reala warm." Keele nodded and then pulled out his rod.

"All right, I'll need a little wood and I'll have a fire ready in no time." He said. Upon finishing, Keele saw that Reid had a log in his hand. Keele raised an eyebrow to Reid. "Where'd you get that?" He asked.

"What? I keep logs in my bag just in case." He said. "I mean, who knows when I need to cook a meal I just hunted?" Farah shrugged and took the log from Reid.

"Okay then." She said. "Use your magic, Keele…" Keele nodded.

"Fire Ball!" Three fireballs launched out of his wand and towards the wood, which lit up instantly upon impact. The six adventurers spread out around the fire to warm themselves up.

A couple minutes later, Meredy was looking through her bag for something and her face suddenly lit up. Withdrawing something, she addressed her friends.

"Everybody, look what Meredy found!" She said. Meredy held up a pack of cards of some kind to show everybody.

"Cards?" Reid said. "What's so significant about them?" Meredy laughed.

"They are cards for a game called WHIS." She responded. Keele scoffed.

"Hmph… Card games…" Keele stood up. "If you want me, I'll be somewhere else… I'm not gonna get involved in frivolous activities like… playing cards…" He started walking away.

"Aww, Keele…" Reid said. "Do you ALWAYS have to be such a stick in the mud? Besides, you're just afraid of losing…" Keele stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"I-I can win a simple card game!" He said, somewhat embarrassed. "Deal me some cards, Meredy…" Meredy shook her head.

"Sorry, Keele…" She said. "WHIS is only played with four people…" Keele looked at Reid, Farah, and Kyle, who all had a hand of cards already, and then back to Meredy, who was holding the deck. Keele grumbled.

"Fine…" He said. "I'll just stick around to hear the rules and then I'll join in the next game. Loser rotates out, okay?"

"Sounds good to me…" Farah said. "However, I'm certainly not gonna lose…" Kyle chuckled.

"You sure about that, Farah?" He said. Farah playfully put her hands on her hips.

"Is that a challenge, Kyle?" She said. The blond haired boy laughed.

"If you wanna take me on, then sure!" He said. "I won't lose! So, Meredy… How do we play this game?"

* * *

After Meredy explained the rules of WHIS, the five adventurers played so many rounds of the card game that everybody lost count. Each person had their fair share of losses, and nobody dominated the game to a point of being in nearly every round. The entire time, Reala slept near the fire. Eventually, when the light of the fire had burned out, the card game was no longer able to be played due to insufficient amount of light. This is when everybody thought this was a cue to go to bed. Reid, Farah, Keele, and Meredy all lay around what used to be the campfire, and Kyle sat down next to Reala. He wrapped his arms around her body and snuggled up close to her.

"Don't worry, Reala…" He whispered. "I'll keep you warm…" When Reala did not respond after a few seconds, Kyle shrugged and started to fall asleep. However, right before he drifted into slumber, Kyle could have sworn he heard a very faint voice say something in his ear… He could barely hear the words 'thank you', and, upon hearing them, he smiled and fell asleep…

* * *

The smell of cheese and eggs woke Kyle up the next morning. He slowly opened his eyes and all he saw was the brown ground of the cave. His head shot into the air and he looked around frantically. Reala chuckled behind him, causing Kyle to turn around and sigh with relief.

"Are you okay, Kyle?" She asked. Kyle smiled at his friends.

"I am now…" He said. "I was just kinda freaked out when I saw that you weren't in my grasp when I woke up.

"Yeah, we needed to pry Reala out of your grasp…" Keele said. "You're surprisingly strong when you're being protective…" Kyle's face turned pink…

"Umm…" Kyle was trying to change the topic. "So, what's cooking?" Farah looked at Kyle and smiled.

"Well, we were making omelets to try and wake up Reid…" She said, pointing towards the sleeping hunter, and then looking back at the sizzling omelets in her frying pan. "But he's REALLY asleep today… Not even mentioning omelets could wake him up… So we're making some omelets so the smell wakes him up… But that doesn't seem to be working either…"

"Reid must be very tired." Meredy said. "If the omelets do not wake Reid up, Meredy does not know how to wake up Reid…" Just then, a cunning smile slid onto Kyle's face as he stared at Farah's frying pan.

"I know what to do…" He said, standing up and walking over to Farah. "Say, Farah… Do you have another frying pan?" Farah looked up at Kyle and gave him a strange look.

"What do you need a frying pan for?" She asked.

"Meredy did not know that Kyle cooked!" Meredy asked. Kyle chuckled.

"I'm not gonna be cooking, Meredy…" He said. "I also need a ladle, too… Do you have both of those objects?"

"What in the name of Inferia do you need a frying pan and a ladle for if you're not gonna cook, Kyle?" Keele asked. The dangerous smile returned to Kyle's face.

"You'll see~~~" He said. Farah gave Kyle another stare, and then went into her cooking supplies, withdrawing a smaller frying pan and ladle.

"I really have no idea what you're gonna do…" She said, giving Kyle the pan and ladle. The golden haired swordsman walked over to where Reid was sleeping.

"Is Kyle going to be making something?" Meredy said.

"Yep." Kyle responded. "Noise." Reala chuckled.

"Uh, oh…" She said. "You guys may want to cover your ears then…"

"Why, Reala?" Keele asked, getting rather skeptical.

"Because I'm gonna Wake the Dead!" Kyle said. He turned to face Reid. "Got my pan, got my ladle…"

"Wake the Dead?" Meredy asked. "What does Kyle mean by that?"

"Secret Aileron Family Special Technique!" Kyle yelled. "Rise from your grave!" Just then, Kyle started to repeatedly bang the ladle against the frying pan, making lots of loud noise. Within seconds of starting the noisemaking, everybody had their ears covered. It wasn't long before Reid shot awake.

"Whoa!" He said. "What the hell?" Reid looked around and finally focused on Kyle, who had stopped making the noise, but still had the frying pan and ladle in hand. To Reid, a frying pan meant none other than… "Food!" He said. "Is breakfast ready yet?" Farah chuckled.

"Yep." She said. "I made some omelets." Reid sprung to his feet.

"Omelets?!?" He said. "Yay!" Reid nearly tackled Farah while trying to get his breakfast. Everybody gathered around Farah soon afterward and tried to get an omelet before Reid had totally swallowed up all of them.

After everybody had gotten their breakfast, they sat down in a circle to eat. Before long, Keele looked up at Kyle, who was enjoying his omelet. Keele cleared his throat, and the young swordsman looked up at the blue-haired scholar while shoving another piece of omelet into his mouth.

"Somfing wong, Kee?" Kyle asked with his mouth full. Trying to suppress his distaste for somebody talking with their mouth full of food, Keele continued.

"No, nothing's wrong…" He said. "You just got me thinking…" Kyle swallowed his food.

"About what?" The fair-haired boy asked.

"Well, you mentioned something about an 'Aileron family' when you were using that… move…" Keele coughed after saying the word 'move'. "But I thought your last name was Dunamis…" Kyle looked down at his breakfast.

"Well…" Kyle said. "Aileron is my actual last name…"

"Why don't you go by Kyle Aileron then?" Reid asked.

"Well…" Kyle said. "It's because I've lived in an orphanage most of my life…"

"Is Kyle an orphan?" Meredy asked. Kyle chuckled.

"Actually, my mom runs the orphanage, so no…" He said. "Well, anyways, my home is the Dunamis Orphanage back in Cresta… I've lived there so long that I took the orphanage's name as my last name… Same goes for my best friend, Loni. He also uses the orphanage name as his last name…" Farah stood up.

"Okay, so if everybody's done with their omelets, let's go. We need to go find Gnome today." Everybody else stood up, except for Kyle, the only person who hadn't finished his breakfast yet, who inhaled the rest of his omelet and then stood up. All six of them set off further into the cave.

* * *

After a while, the team had traversed through a good section of the cave, but they had run into a dead end.

"A dead end?!?" Keele said. "D-did we miss something? Where is Gnome?!?"

"Oh, come on, Keele…" Reid said. "Is finding Gnome really a big deal?" Keele turned and glared at Reid.

"Whaddya mean is it a big deal?!?" Keele barked. "Of course it is! Of course a stupid hunter like you wouldn't be able to see the importance of getting the help of the Greater Craymel of Earth!" Reid's face was turning red in anger.

"Oh, so I'm a stupid hunter, huh?" He said. "Well, you're a coward who doesn't even like battling. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have been able to beat ANY of the Craymels that you have in that Craymel Cage of yours…" Farah sighed and walked up to the arguing boys.

"Guys, stop arguing." She said. "We need to figure out what to do next…" Farah put her hand on Reid's shoulder.

"Butt out of this, Farah!" Reid said, flinging Farah aside. Just then, as she was stumbling, Farah fell over and out of sight.

"Farah?!?" Reala said. "Where are you?"

"Oh, great…" Keele said. "Look at what you've done, you meatheaded idiot! Farah's gone now!"

"Guys, I'm okay." Farah's voice said from nearby. "Dirty, but okay. There's a secret passage that I must have fallen through…"

"A secret passage?" Meredy said. "Where is Farah?"

"Here, let me open the way…" Farah said. "Palm Strike!" Just then, a bunch of dirt came launching out at the other five adventurers.

"Ptoo!" Reid said, spitting out a mouth full of dirt. "Yuck, that dirt tastes terrible!"

"Hey, look at this!" Keele said, brushing the dirt of his robes. "The way's been opened up! We can go through!" Farah waved at the others from the other side of the secret passage. All of a sudden, a white blur came out of nowhere and knocked Farah over.

"Huh?!?" Reala said. "What was that?"

"Guys, this might be dangerous…" Keele said. "We might be fighting Gnome pretty soon… Remember, Sylph and Gnome are opposites, so wind Artes will be most effective.

"Wind Artes?" Kyle said. "That's my specialty! Leave it to me!" He gave a thumbs up.

"I can use wind spells, too…" Reala said. "But I haven't had my Lens enchanted by Sylph…" Keele looked at Reala.

"Here, lemme help you out with that, then…" He said, pulling out his Craymel Cage. "Come, Sylph…" Keele was interrupted.

"Could you also possibly have Efreet enchant my Lens, too?" Reala asked.

"All right, then…" Keele said. "Come, Sylph! Come Efreet! Enchant her Lens with your power!" Once the enchantment was over, Reala tested out some new spells.

"So, we're ready?" Reid said. "Let's go!" Everybody charged into the hole and saw that Farah was being examined by some white creature that had a large nose and a green cap with a red bobble on the end of it. The creature turned and looked at the other people as they filed in.

"More humans?" It said. "What do you humans want?"

"Err…" Keele started. "We would like to speak to Gnome… Do you know where he is?"

"Of course I do!" The thing said. "I'm a Gnomelette… Of course I know where Gnome is!"

"Will you lead us to him?" Reala asked.

"Hmm… Why do you need to speak to Gnome?" The Gnomelette said.

"We want Gnome to help us stop the Grand Fall!" Meredy said.

"The Grand Fall?!?" The Gnomelette said. "Hmm… All right. Come with me." The Gnomelette scuttled off. "You guys coming?" Reid walked over to Farah.

"You okay?" He said. Farah laughed.

"Well, I'm not hurt… Yeah, I guess so…" She stood up.

"Let's not keep the Gnomelette waiting…" Keele said, walking behind the Gnomelette. The others followed.

Eventually, the adventurers came across a tiny village. Everybody was rather amazed by the village.

"Wow!" Keele said. "T-this is amazing! How can Craymels create such buildings like these?" He ran over to a building that came up a little higher than his head. "Oh, how I'd like to see what these houses look like on the inside!" Reid chuckled.

"Keele, you'd take the roof off of that building if you went inside…" Keele spun around, face somewhat red.

"I-I know that!" He said. "I'm just saying!" All of a sudden, the six adventurers were surrounded by Gnomelettes.

"Humans?" One of them said.

"We haven't seen humans in years!" Said another. One of the Gnomelettes walked up to Meredy and started sniffing her.

"This human smells… funny…" It said. Quickie hissed at the Gnomelette, which backed away.

"Aww…" Reala said. "They're quite cute…" She bent over to look at one closer. The Gnomelette sniffed her.

"This human smells like… flowers…" The Gnomelette said. Reala laughed.

"Flowers?" She said.

"Ha ha…" Kyle said. "That's interesting…" Just then, he felt something butt into his heel. "Hmm?" He turned around to see what it was. A really small Gnomelette was attacking his shoe. "Hey, what's wrong, little guy?" The Gnomelette glared at Kyle.

"You human!" The Gnomelette said. Just then, a larger Gnomelette corralled the little one.

"I'm sorry." It said. "My little one is just really curious." Kyle laughed.

"Oh, it's all right." He said. "He didn't cause any harm."

"Hey, humans!" A voice called out. "Doncha wanna talk with Gnome?"

"Oh, right!" Farah said. "Let's go guys!" The team found the Gnomelette that had led them into the village.

"Well, Gnome's just beyond here…" It said. "Good luck… You'll need it…"

The team walked into a small area. Inside a large, pudgy Gnomelette was sleeping.

"Is that… Gnome?" Farah whispered.

"That's Gnome?!?" Kyle laughed. "It's so fat! Ha ha ha!"

"Kyle! Don't laugh! You'll wake it up!" Keele said.

"Whaddya mean, Keele?" Kyle said. "It's sleeping like a… Ow!" A pebble had beaned Kyle in the head.

"I am not FAT!" A voice said. Kyle rubbed his forehead.

"Still, what the heck?" He said. "Was it really necessary to launch a pebble at my… Ow!" Another pebble whacked Kyle on the head.

"Of course it is! You come barging in here and launch insults at me! You woke me up, and now I'm angry!"

"G-Gnome…" Keele said. "Forgive my stupid little friend…"

"Hey!" Kyle interrupted, but received a hard stare from the blue haired scholar.

"What I was trying to say…" He continued, "Is that we only came to ask if you could join us in stopping the Grand Fall."

"The Grand Fall?" Gnome said. "Hmm… Perhaps…"

"Really? You will?" Kyle said. "That would be…" Another pebble flew in Kyle's direction, hitting him in the forehead once again, but, this time, Kyle fell over unconscious. A bead of sweat rolled down the each of the backs of his friends' necks.

_So much for 'leave it to me'…_ Reid thought as he stared at the unconscious boy.

"What I was TRYING to say was that I'll join you if you can best me in battle… Are you all ready to fight?"

"Almost…" Reala said, leaning over Kyle. "Heal!" Once he was all healed, the blond haired boy sat up.

"Oww, my head…" Kyle said, rubbing his head. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Kyle saw another pebble flying in his direction. Without thinking, Kyle whipped out his sword. "Azure Edge!" The blue projectile destroyed the oncoming pebble, and Kyle rose to his feet.

"Okay, looks like we're all ready to go, then…" Farah said.

"Kyle, Reala, and I should stand back and cast wind magic…" Keele said. "Farah and Reid, you take up the front lines. Meredy, you… can cast magic, too…"

"But Meredy does not have wind magic!" She said. "What can Meredy do?"

"You can still use your other magic to keep Gnome at bay." Farah said. "Now, let's go!" She and Reid ran towards Gnome. The four magic users began to charge their spells. Gnome laughed.

"Okay, it's on!" He said. "Snout Flare!" The Greater Craymel began its charge, knocking Reid and Farah into the air as if they were bowling pins and continued to run towards the mages.

"Wind Slash!" Reala cast her spell, which stopped the charge of the oncoming Craymel.

"Splash!" Meredy knocked the Craymel into the air with her spell, sending it back towards Farah and Reid.

"Triple Blossom!" Farah kicked Gnome towards Reid.

"Omega Tempest!" Reid's somersault attack knocked Gnome onto his back.

"Owwie…" Gnome said as he got back onto his feet. "That's not fair! Six against one! Lemme even the odds! Summon Friends!" Just then, the ground began to shake. Suddenly, a large number of Gnomelettes filed into the battlefield.

"Gnomelettes!" Meredy gasped.

"We have to make sure Keele and Kyle's spells aren't interrupted!" Reala said.

"Reala, are you going to throw yourself into harm's way to protect Kyle?" Meredy said.

"Of course." She said. "That's what you do for people you love."

"That's what you do for people you love?" Meredy repeated. Reala watched as she ran over to where Kyle was watched as the Gnomelettes rammed into her instead of Kyle. Keele was going to get clobbered in seconds… Was Meredy going to take Reala's advice? Did she really love Keele that much? Mind made up, Meredy ran over to protect Keele. Reala smiled at Meredy.

Soon, the stampede of Gnomelettes subsided. Reid and Farah continued to assault Gnome from up close. Finally, Keele's spell was ready to be cast.

"Air Thrust!" He yelled, throwing his arm into the air. A ball of air blades surrounded Gnome and slashed at him.

"Hey, cut it out!" He said. "Snout Flare!" He charged through Reid and Farah and towards Keele. "You meanie humans need to stop using your wind magic!"

"Keele, watch out!" Reid said.

"Great storm of Sylph! I call upon your wrath!" Kyle began chanting, eyes closed.

"Is Kyle using Voltic Heat again?" Meredy asked.

"Seems like it…" Reala said. "I just hope he doesn't injure himself like he did last time…"

"Bring the tempest of fury to blow away my enemies with the force of a hurricane!" Kyle opened his eyes. "Voltic Heat!" He thrust his arm into the air, sending a green ball of energy hurtling towards Gnome and Keele.

"Keele is going to be hit!" Meredy said.

"Don't worry!" Keele said. He took his staff and brought it down upon Gnome's head, stunning him.

"Ouch!" Gnome said. "Huh?" He looked up and saw the incoming Voltic Heat spell hurtling towards him. "Uh… Oh…" The spell slammed into the ground, blowing Gnome away, as well as Keele, who did his best to brace himself for the attack but failed.

"Sylph!" Keele said in midair, holding up his Craymel Cage. A green ball of light surrounded Keele and he floated safely back down to the ground.

Not too far away, Gnome lay on his large nose, defeated. "Oww…" He said. "I give up… You humans are too good…" He returned to his feet, and the six adventurers gathered around him. "Well, since you guys won, I guess I have to go into your Craymel Cage now… Whose Craymel Cage shall I enter?"

"Mine!" Meredy said, holding up her Craymel Cage. Gnome shrugged. Just then, Reala spoke up.

"Hold on, before you do that, could you please enchant my Lens?" She said. "I normally use a lot of Earth magic, but if I use those spells without your help, I could die…" Gnome looked at her for a second.

"Ah, what the heck… Sure." Gnome said, charging up brown energy in one of his hands.

"Mine too!" Kyle said. "I may only have one Earth spell, but I still would like to be able to use it…"

"Fine, here you both go…" He charged up energy in both of his hands and tossed them towards Kyle and Reala, whose Lenses became enchanted. "Okay, and now I make my grand exit… See you guys later!" Gnome transformed into a ball of brown light and entered Meredy's Craymel Cage.

"Meredy has a new Craymel!" She said. "We should Fringe to create new spells, Keele!" Keele pulled out his Craymel Cage.

"All right." He said. "Let's Fringe!" After the Fringing was complete, Keele and Meredy turned to face the rest of the group.

"We sure make a fine team…" Reid said. "Together, we're really powerful."

"And, we're gonna keep getting even stronger, right guys?" Farah said. Everybody agreed.

"Okay, so now how do we get out of this place?" Reala said. Just then, Meredy's Craymel Cage glowed, and Gnome reappeared.

"Here, lemme show you a quick way outta here…" The pudgy Craymel ran over toward a wall.

"What's over there?" Farah asked.

"Waaaaa!" Gnome said. A hole in the wall appeared. Gnome turned around. "Well, here ya go… That'll get you back up to the surface quickly…" After saying this, he disappeared into Meredy's Craymel Cage once more.

"Okay, looks like we should go through that hole that Gnome just made." Reid said. "I can't wait to see the light of day once again…" The adventurers set off to leave through the hole in the cave.

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene:** Okay, finally this chapter is DONE! I lost part of it in an accident. T_T Actually, I like how the battle came out this time… Well, next chapter: Chat's Hut! Yay! Thank you for reading! ^_^


	11. Chapter 10: A Hut of Mysteries

**Two Destinies Chapter 10: A Hut of Surprises**

**Author's Preface: **Yay, I've been waiting for so long to start this chapter! I hope that (when I'm not getting sidetracked by MSN) this chapter won't take very long to write… Ready… set… let's go! (*shot*)

* * *

"Aaah!" Reid said, taking in a deep breath of air. "This is great! We're finally out of that cave!"

"It's great to see the sun again…" Farah said, looking up into the gray sky.

"All right… Now we need to get to Peruti." Meredy said.

"Do we know even which way to go?" Keele asked. "We might head back in the direction of Luishka if we're not careful…"

"Meredy does not know where we are…" Said the Celestian girl.

"Say…" Reala said, staring at something. "I wonder if the owner of that house knows which way Peruti is…"

"What house?" Reid said. "I don't see any… Ah!" All of a sudden, Reid pointed in a random direction and, sure enough, there was a house. "Well, what's a house doing all the way out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Who cares? Let's go!" Kyle said, running off. However, Farah caught the back collar of his vest and stopped the eager boy in his tracks.

"Hold on, Kyle…" She said. "Don't be so rash. Let's see what everybody else wants to do first…"

"Actually, I think we should at least go and ask directions from the inhabitant…" Reala said.

"Hmm… I dunno…" Keele said. "I really don't think we should go intruding…" Reid elbowed Keele in the side.

"Oh, come on…" Reid said while ignoring the stern stare from Keele. "We're just gonna knock on the door and see if anybody's home. If they are, we'll ask for directions to Peruti. Simple as that. All right?"

"…Fine…" Keele said. "I guess that's all right…"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Kyle said. He then turned to look at Farah, who was still holding onto his vest collar. "Y'know… You can let go of me now…" Farah's face turned pink and she let go. The six adventurers then set off towards the house.

* * *

"Well, this house looks rather… Different…" Keele pointed out. "Are you sure you guys wanna do this?"

"Keele, what are you so darn afraid of?" Reid asked. "Nothing bad's gonna happen… So stop worrying!" Meredy ran up to the front door of the house and knocked on the door.

"Is anybody home?" She said. There was no response. The others went up to the door.

"Huh… That's odd…" Farah said. "I guess they're not home…"

"Perhaps Meredy didn't knock loud enough…" Kyle suggested, walking up next to the door. "HEY!" He yelled. He started knocking on the door pretty hard. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of Keele's neck.

"Kyle, stop it!" He said. "That's rude!" Just then, the door creaked open.

"I-it opened…" Farah said.

"Let's go inside and see if everything's all right…" Reid said.

"Honestly, you and Kyle are both idiots…" Keele groaned. "Look, you two obviously didn't grow up with manners… Let's just hurry on to Peruti…" Just then, Keele realized he was the only one standing outside. "Huh?" He said. "Wait for me!" Keele hurried inside.

* * *

The interior of the building seemed rather cozy. There were two loveseats and a recliner, all decorated with blue upholstery, gathered around a small oval table. Beneath this was a large blue rug with an interesting insignia printed on it three times. There were strange things all around, such as an old wooden clock, a purple vase, pictures galore, and other intriguing doodads.

"Hello?" Farah called out. "Is there anybody home? We're sorry for intruding!" She looked back and saw Meredy jumping on one of the loveseats.

"Meredy, get down from there!" Keele yelled. "It's rude of us to be in here without permission anyways, and it's especially rude for us to be bouncing on furniture that doesn't belong to us!" Meredy took one more giant leap and bounced from the loveseat into the reclining chair and decided to sit down.

"Very well." She said. "Meredy is tired anyways... Isn't that right, Quickie?" The blue squirrel-rabbit chirped in agreement.

"So, it looks like nobody's home..." Reala said. "What do we do now?"

"Well..." Reid said. "I guess we should just..." All of a sudden, there was a scream from nearby.

"What the hell was that?!?" Kyle said, looking around. "Did the homeowner finally return?" Just then, there was a series of loud chirps from Quickie.

"Quickie, what's wrong?" Reala asked, picking up the animal. However, Quickie wiggled out of Reala's arms and started bouncing on the seat that Meredy had been sitting in not too long ago.

"Hey, what happened to Meredy?!?" Reid said, looking at Quickie. "She was just here... Where did she go?"

"Why do I have a feeling that Meredy was the one who screamed?" Keele said. "I wonder what happened, though..."

"Perhaps we should examine this chair that Meredy was sitting on..." Kyle said, going onto his knees to examine the seat closer. "Hmm... What could have possibly happened? Agh, this is so confusing!" Just then, as Kyle rested his elbow on the seat, a puff of white smoke came out from underneath the chair. Within seconds, Kyle had fainted.

"Kyle!" Reala yelled, running over to where Kyle was. However, when she got close to him, she too lost consciousness and fell onto the floor.

"What the?!?" Reid said. "Is that... sleeping gas?"

"We should try to get out of here!" Keele said.

"But what about Kyle and Reala?" Farah said. "We can't just leave them there!" Just then, Reid yawned.

"Maybe we can... *yawn* ...come back to get those two once the... *yawn* ...sleeping gas wears..." Before he finished his sentence, Reid fell to the floor, knocked out.

"Not you too, Reid!" Farah said. All of a sudden, Keele dropped to his knees. Farah ran over to where he was. "Keele, come on! Snap out of it!"

"I'm just too tired to stand up..." Keele said. "I just wanna take a nap..." After saying that last sentence, Keele curled up into a ball and was out of it. Finally, Farah yawned.

"Darn..." She said. "Looks like... it really is... naptime..." Farah finally fell asleep as well. They were all asleep, unaware of somebody nearby who was looking at the whole scene...

* * *

Keele was the first person to wake up. He still felt somewhat groggy from the sleeping gas. Keele took a look at his surroundings as he sat up. He saw instantly that he and his traveling companions were no longer in the room that they had fallen asleep in. This room was small, had yellow and green checkered floors, and white walls. There were two large brown slabs that Keele figured might be doors. He stood up and shook out his robe. He walked over to one of the slabs and saw that there weren't any doorknobs on the slabs. "Rats..." Keele muttered. "Are we trapped in here, then?"

"Trapped?" Farah said, waking up. "We can't be trapped. There's always gotta be a way out..." Keele turned and looked at Farah.

"Well, I can't open this slab, so we really can't get anywhere..." Farah stood up and walked over to the other slab.

"Did you try opening up this one?" She asked.

"Well, I assumed..." Just then, Farah started looking hard at the slab, when, all of a sudden...

"Ah!" Farah said, touching something. "This should do something..." Just then, the slab creaked open, revealing a staircase.

"H-how did you do that?!?" Keele asked, running over to where Farah was. "What did you press?"

"There was a button right..." Suddenly, there was movement from behind Keele and Farah.

"Where are we?" A gentle voice said. Keele and Farah turned around to see Reala sitting up. She looked around, and then focused on Keele and Farah. "Oh, Keele... Farah... Do you know where we are?" Farah walked over to where Reala was.

"I'm not sure..." She said, extending a hand to Reala. "I just recently figured out how to get out of this room..."

"All right..." Reala said, now standing up. She continued to look around and saw Kyle still unconscious near her feet. "Oh, Kyle!" She bent over to cradle the boy in her arms. "Are you okay?" There was no response from him.

"He might be out of it for a while..." Keele said. "He got the full blast of the sleeping gas... It's gonna take him longer to get the sleeping gas that he inhaled to break down to a point where he can return to consciousness..."

"What about Reid?" Reala asked. "Shouldn't he be getting up pretty soon?"

"Hmm..." Farah said, walking over to Reid. "You're right. I think he's just being lazy right now..."

"Well, how are we gonna wake him up, then?" Keele said.

"Hey, Reala..." Farah said. "Do you remember how that wake-up move that Kyle used works?" Reala blinked once.

"Well, it's actually very simple..." She said. "You just bang on a frying pan with a ladle..." Within seconds, Farah had her frying pan and ladle out.

"Okay then!" She said. "Wake up, Reid!" Farah banged on the frying pan with the ladle, and Reid shot awake.

"Aw man..." He said, holding his head. "Not that again..." Reid then looked at the still-unconscious Kyle. "Say, why didn't that work on him?" He asked.

"He inhaled too much sleeping gas." Farah said. Reid stood up.

"So... What now?" He asked.

"We should see if we can find Meredy..." Keele said. "I have a hunch that she's down here, too."

"And what about Kyle?" Reala asked. Reid bent over and picked up Kyle, putting the sleeping boy on his back.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that." He said, smiling.

"But what about fighting enemies?" Keele said.

"Well, I'll leave that to you guys." Reid said. "I really can't fight with somebody on my back." Keele sighed.

"Let's go find Meredy." Farah said, starting up the stairs. The others followed close behind.

* * *

It wasn't long before the team had met up with Meredy again. The others had found her examining something just on the other side of the stairs.

"Hey, Meredy!" Reala called. Meredy turned around.

"Oh!" She said. "Everybody fell down here, too?"

"Yeah, I guess so..." Farah said. "At least you're all right, Meredy..."

"You are all right, too!" The purple haired Celestian girl said.

"So, what were you looking at here, Meredy?" Reid said, walking up near Meredy. The Celestian girl looked at Reid strangely.

"What is on Reid's back?" She asked. Reid looked over his shoulder, looked back at Meredy, and laughed.

"Oh, that's just Kyle..." He said. "Kyle inhaled a little too much sleeping gas and we can't wake him up."

"All right." Meredy said. "Anyways, Meredy was trying to reach a switch... See that door?" Meredy pointed towards a door at the top of a set of stairs. "That door will not open. The door is locked. Meredy thinks that this switch in here will open the door. However, Meredy cannot reach the switch..."

"No problem, we'll just have to figure out another way to activate the switch." Farah said. "I think we should look around for clues. Let's go." The reunited team set off to look for hints as to how to get out of this strange place...

* * *

Eventually, the team came upon a strange computer. Keele walked up to the computer. He put a hand on his chin.

"Hmm..." He said. "It seems this computer has something written in Melnics on it... Meredy?" Keele looked at Meredy, who skipped up to where the computer was.

"Meredy can read this." She said after looking at the computer screen. "It says 'When all are lit with colors, the roulette wheel turns. The arrow points to the open door'..." Just then, there was a strange clicking sound.

"What was that?" Reid said.

"Perhaps reading this unlocked part of the puzzle..." Reala said. "Let's hurry and see what happened..."

---

Later, the team ended up in a room with five orbs on pedestals.

"What's with these?" Reid asked.

"I don't know..." Keele said, touching one. All of a sudden, it began to glow red. "Whoa!" Keele nearly tripped when he stepped back. Just then, Meredy touched another orb.

"Meredy thinks this has to do with what that Melnics text said." She said. "Perhaps everybody needs to activate the orbs..." Everybody nodded, then activated the rest of the orbs. All of a sudden, the floor below them starting flashing, and the flashing lights began to spin. Not long afterward, the flashing lights stopped, and the red arrow in front of one of the doors blinked twice, and there was another clicking sound.

"Well, now what?" Reid said.

"I think we should go through the door where that red arrow is..." Reala said. "Come on..." She disappeared through the door, and her friends joined her.

Inside, the team found some kind of a spring. Keele picked it up and examined it. "A spring?" He said. "Why is there a spring here?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with how to get out of this place..." Reid said.

"It looks like it could be used to wind something up..." Farah said. "But what?"

"We should keep searching." Meredy said. "Perhaps more clues will show up if we just keep walking around..." And walking around they continued to do...

---

Later on, the team found themselves in a strange playroom full of toys. Meredy walked up to the toys.

"One of these toys must have a spring missing!" Meredy said. "We need to find it..."

"Let's split up and look for something that looks like it needs a spring..." Farah said. She, Reala, Keele, and Meredy took to four different corners of the room, and Reid stood near the door, unable to join the hunt due to the fact that his hands were still full with the sleeping child on his back. All of a sudden, there a sudden boinging noise accompanied by creepy jack-in-the-box music, which was soon followed by Reala screaming and falling onto her back.

"Is Reala okay?" Meredy asked. Reala stood up.

"I-I'm fine... I just didn't expect that..." She brushed dirt off of her frilly dress. "I'll continue searching..."

"That won't be necessary..." Keele said. "Here, check this out." He held up a small yellow toy duck. "There's a hole in its back... I think the wind-up spring will fit in here perfectly." Farah pulled out the spring that had been found before and stuffed it in the back of the duck.

"Fits perfectly..." She said. "I wonder what's the deal with this duck, though..." Just then, Meredy took the duck and wound it up. When she set it down, the duck began to waddle strangely. Seconds later, the duck stopped moving and Meredy picked it up again.

"Meredy thinks this duck can hit the button that Meredy was trying to get to earlier..." She said.

"Hmm..." Keele said... "This toy doesn't seem very capable of floating..."

"It's worth a try..." Reid said. "I mean, what other options do we have?" Keele shrugged.

"You have a point. Let's try it." He said. The team left the room to go into the area where they had first come into the puzzle. Meredy ran up to where the switch was and wound up the duck again. She placed it into the water and sure enough, the duck swam over to where the button was and pressed it. A clicking noise emanated through the area.

"I think the door's unlocked, so let's get the heck outta here!" Farah said. The team ascended the staircases next to the switch and ran through the door...

Only to find themselves in a similar room to the one they just left...

"Huh?" Keele said. "But I thought we just left this room!" Just then, the door the team had entered closed behind them.

"Oh, great..." Reid said. "Now what?"

"I guess we try to solve the next puzzle..." Reala said. "Let's go."

* * *

Once again, the team traversed a seemingly endless number of rooms, knocking over statues and trying to get past blocked doors, eventually finding another toy duck and spring. After yet another hour, the team put the toy duck back together, flipped the switch, ascended the stairs... and ended up in yet another puzzle room.

"Geez..." Keele said. "Just how many puzzles are there in this place?" All of a sudden, Reid fell to his knees, panting.

"Something wrong, Reid?" Farah said. Reid gasped for breath.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this!" He said.

"Do what?" Meredy asked. Reid looked at Kyle on his back.

"I really can't carry around Kyle any longer..." He said. "He's a lot heavier than he looks, and it's really wearing me down..."

"Just how much sleeping gas did that idiot breathe in?" Keele said, sighing. Just then, there was some stirring from Reid's back.

"Kyle?" Reala said, running up to Reid and Kyle. The blond-haired swordsman finally regained consciousness.

"W-where am I?" He said quietly. Reala took one of his hands.

"We honestly don't know..." She said. "We're just solving puzzles so we can try to get out of here..."

"Puzzles?" Kyle said, getting off of Reid's back. "Agh, I'm no good at puzzles... They make my head hurt..."

"Don't worry." Farah said. "These puzzles aren't actually that hard..." She then went on to explain how the puzzles worked to Kyle. The fair-haired boy nodded once she was done.

"Oh, I see..." He said. "So, let's get solving!" Farah walked over to Reid.

"Do you want to take a break here, Reid?" Reid smiled, and then stood up.

"I'm okay." Reid said. "I just got over 100 pounds of dead weight off of my back, so I'll recover quickly." Kyle laughed sheepishly.

"Just how long was I outta it?" He said. Reala wrapped herself around Kyle's arm.

"Long enough for us to solve two puzzles..." She said. "Probably an hour or two..." Kyle's cheeks turned pink.

"A-an hour or two?" He said, chuckling awkwardly. _Was I really that much of a burden for that much time?_ He thought.

"Okay! We should get moving!" Meredy said. "Meredy does not know how many puzzles this place has!"

"Meredy's right!" Farah said. "Let's go!" And the team set off to solve the next puzzle.

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene: **Well, that turned out pretty well... Also, just to warn you, there's gonna be a time-skip between the end of this chapter and the beginning of the next. I don't feel like narrating 3 more floors between floor 6 and floor 3... Also, this chapter DID write itself! And it didn't take me too long to get this chapter live! Yay! I hope the next chapter ends up the same way!

**EDIT: **Thanks to a review that was made, I editted part of this chapter. :3


	12. Chapter 11: Portraits from Another World

**Two Destinies Chapter 11: Portraits from Another World**

**Author's Preface: **Here starts Chat's Hut part 2! And here also starts a time skip! Well, here goes… I own none of these characters!

* * *

"Seriously!" Reid complained as he and his friend stepped into yet another puzzle room. "We've already ascended five floors!"

"How many floors does this blasted place even have?" Kyle complained. "It's like this place has an infinite number of floors…"

"Don't worry, we'll reach the end of these puzzles eventually…" Farah said. "I just wonder how many floors of puzzles we'll need to complete…"

"Thousands!" Meredy burst out. This outburst made Kyle jump backward.

"W-what?!? Really?!? T-there can't be!" The fair-haired child wobbled back and forth as if he was going to faint. Reala ran over to where Kyle was standing to prevent him from falling over.

"Meredy!" Farah said, putting her hands on her hips. "Don't scare him like that. You know these puzzles have been really stressful for him…"

"When Kyle said he wasn't good at puzzles, he wasn't lying…" Keele said under his breath.

"Let's just keep going forward." Reala said. "We can get out of here, but we need to keep going!"

"Please tell me that we won't need to complete thousands of puzzles first…" Kyle said rather dizzily. Reala giggled and whispered something in his ear. He instantly perked back to his normal energy level once she was done. "Okay, then let's keep going!" He said, running into another room.

"What did you say to him, Reala?" Reid asked. Reala chuckled.

"I told him that there are probably only one or two puzzles beyond this one." She said. "I also said…" Just then, there was a yelp from nearby.

"What was that?" Meredy said. Keele sighed.

"Why do I think it was Kyle making a klutzy move?" He said. "Let's see if he's all right…" The team opened the door that Kyle had disappeared behind and saw he was laying on the floor all the way on the other side of the room.

"Kyle? Are you all right?" Reid called out. Kyle groaned.

"Owwie…" He said, still not moving. "I hit my head on the floor…" Reala started to run towards the fallen swordsman.

"Here, let me… Aah!" All of a sudden, the floor underneath her feet began to move. Reala nearly lost her balance.

"Meredy knows what happened!" Said the Celestian girl. "Kyle must have tripped when the floor started moving and the floor brought Kyle over to the other side of the room."

"That seems very likely…" Farah said. Keele sighed.

"He really is a klutz sometimes…" Reala hopped off of the moving floor over to where Kyle was.

"Are you all right?" She asked him, using a healing spell on Kyle. He sat up.

"I am now…" Kyle said, rubbing his head. "I really wasn't expecting a moving floor like that…" The rest of the team boarded the moving floor and gathered on the other side of the room.

"So, the puzzle for this floor probably has to do with these sliding floors…" Reid said. "Well, let's start searching for the duck and the spring…" And upon saying this, everybody nodded and walked into the next room.

* * *

The puzzle on that floor was not too terribly difficult. The team easily navigated the sliding floors and got past the blockades once again. The duck and spring was found once more, and the toy was used to hit the button again. The team climbed the staircases and went for the door...

To discover yet another puzzle that needed solving!

"This is ridiculous..." Reid muttered under his breath. "Was Meredy really right when she said that there would be thousands of floors to traverse?" He sighed.

"Well, let's not worry and just continue onward..." Farah said, going into another room. Seconds later, she poked her head out again. "Well, it looks like the sliding floors aren't on this floor..." She said.

"I wonder what's the puzzle for this floor?" Keele said. He and the rest of the team went into the room where Farah had entered.

At the end of the hallway, they opened up the door and saw the toy duck sitting on a pedestal. Reid walked up to the pedestal, grabbed the duck, and braced for something bad to happen. A few seconds later, once he realized nothing had happened, he gave a sigh of relief and walked back to his friends.

"Well, that was just way too easy..." Reid said, shrugging. He gave the duck to Farah, who stuffed it into her bag.

"So, let's just go look for the spring now." The team turned around to leave through the door.

"Keeping in mind the general layout of these puzzles, the spring should be in the end of the corridor on the other side." Keele said, scratching his chin. "Why would they make this just way too easy, though?" He said under his breath. "There was no trap or anything when Reid grabbed the duck..." Just then, Keele realized that the rest of the team had left without him. "Wait for me!" He said.

On the other side of the door, everybody was slowly walking through the corridor. Returning back to the main area, they went into the corridor on the other side.

"That's so strange..." Meredy said. "There is no puzzle at all!" She skipped along to the end of the hallway and opened the door. "The spring is here on the other side of this door!" She beckoned her friends to come. Once inside of the room, Kyle walked up to the pedestal that the spring was sitting upon and handed it to Farah, who assembled the duck.

"There's gotta be a catch to this..." Farah said, holding the completed duck toy in her hand.

"Maybe the person who made these puzzles was running out of ideas..." Reid said. Kyle's hand shot into the air.

"All right!" He said. "This must mean that this is the final floor! We're nearly out of here at last!" The team returned to the main area, somewhat excited to get out of the dungeon. Meredy took the duck toy, wound it up, and it pressed the button, as usual. The team braced themselves for something bad to happen, but nothing did.

"We really are done, I guess..." Keele said. "What a shame... I was expecting more than this for the final floor..."

"I can't wait to get outta here!" Kyle said, ascending the stairs. However, a few steps up, the stairs turned into a slipperly slant, which caused Kyle to fall onto his face and slide back to the bottom. Once Kyle had slid off of the slope, the slope returned to its original form of stairs. Kyle shot back onto his knees. "Aww man!" He said, pounding the ground with a fist. "There WAS a catch!"

"Well, looks like we need to go looking for a way to prevent the stairs from becoming a slippery slope..." Reala said.

"Meredy remembers seeing doors in the first corridor that we entered!" Said the purple haired girl.

"Well, we should try opening them up, then..." Farah said. "Let's head back." They reentered the first corridor that they had entered when they had been searching for the duck and spring. Sure enough, there were three doors in that corridor. Reid opened up the first door in the corridor and the team stepped inside. The room was almost completely empty, except for a picture that was hanging on a wall. The team examined the portrait. The picture was of a girl with long green hair pulled into large braids with red bobbles on the end of them who wore a white outfit and glasses. Reala gasped.

"T-this picture!" She said. "I know the person who's in this picture!" Reid, Farah, Keele, and Meredy stared at Reala.

"You do?" Farah said. "She looks strangely... Inferian... But you said you've never been to Inferia before..."

"That's because she's not from Inferia..." Kyle said. "This picture is of Priestess Philia... Well, from when she was a bit younger..."

"You know her, too?" Reid said. "What, is she from your world or something?" Kyle nodded.

"Yep. She's a High Priestess back home." He looked at the picture again. "Why is there a picture of Philia here in Celestia, though?"

"There's gotta be something with this picture of... Philia that has to do with this puzzle..." Keele said, examining Philia's portrait. He touched the picture, and, all of a sudden, it rotated slightly. "Whoa!" He said. "It rotates!"

"I think it's gotta rotate a certain way..." Reala said. "And that could lock the stairs in their current position..."

"But way is that?" Meredy said.

"Maybe we need to keep searching for clues..." Reid said, turning around. "Well, let's go look into the next room..." The team followed him out of the room, but not before Reala looked back at the picture of Philia one more time.

"Are our worlds really connected?" Reala said to herself. "There has to be some link between Celestia and..."

"Reala, let's go!" Kyle said. The pallid girl nodded, turned around, and rejoined the group.

The team opened up the next door, and there was yet another picture. This time, the picture was of another girl who had short black hair and a red, white, and black outfit. She was hamming up the camera, grinning quite widely and giving two thumbs up. Kyle jumped back once he saw the picture.

"What the hell?!?" He yelled. "What is THIS doing here?!?"

"Does Kyle know this person, too?" Meredy asked. Kyle nodded slowly.

"Y-yeah..." He said. "I know this person all too well..." Farah crossed her arms.

"A second picture from your world?" She said. "This is way too freaky to be mere coincidence..."

"So, who is the person in this picture, Kyle?" Reid asked. Kyle took another step backward before speaking.

"T-t-that's... my mother..." He said, still very freaked out. Everybody looked very surprised.

"Your MOTHER?!?" Keele said. "This is your mother?" He went up to the picture and examined it closer. "She doesn't look anything like you, Kyle! Are you sure about this being a picture of your mother?" Kyle flailed about.

"I'm 100% completely positive!" He said. "That's definitely my mom, Rutee! I-I just look more like my father, that's all..."

"Okay, this is just WAY too weird..." Reala said. "First a picture of Priestess Philia, and now a picture of Kyle's mother? What's next?"

"Does this one rotate, too?" Reid said as he went to touch the portrait of Kyle's mother. Upon touching it, the portrait moved, just like the last one.

"We really need to figure out how these pictures are supposed to be oriented..." Farah commented. "Otherwise, we'll never get out of here..."

"Next room might have some clues..." Reala said. "Let's go." The team started to leave the room, all except for Kyle, who continued to stare at the crooked picture. Keele turned around just before leaving the room chuckled at this.

"So, should we leave you here to catch up with your Mommy, Kyle?" He asked rather cynically. "Or would you like to follow us?" Kyle frowned.

"One, it's just a picture..." Kyle said. "Two, I don't call her "Mommy" - I call her just "Mom". And three, of course I'm going with you guys." He ran up to where Keele was and left the room with him.

The rest of the team headed into the third room in the hallway. This room, like the last two, had a lone picture on the wall. However, unlike the other two pictures that had been found, this picture was already on its side, with the character in the picture's head facing left, towards a wall that had a door on it. The picture was of a person who had large yellow hair and a green headband, as well as white armor decorated with blue trim on it. The initial appearance of the character betrayed no gender, until you looked at the person's one open eye. The blue eye was obviously masculine in nature. Like with the picture of Rutee, this person was also hamming up the camera, winking, smiling in a cheesy manner, and holding up a victory hand sign. Everybody tilted their heads to look at the picture. Seconds later, everybody was staring at Kyle.

"This person looks a lot like Kyle!" Meredy said. "Except Kyle has much shorter hair."

"Let me guess..." Keele said. "This is a picture of your father, Kyle?" Kyle walked up to the picture, stood still for a couple seconds, and finally spoke.

"Yes..." He said. "This is my father..."

"The great hero Stahn Aileron..." Reala added.

"Kyle was right..." Meredy said. "Kyle DOES look a lot like his father..."

"This is way too odd..." Reid said. "Whoever owns this house must have visited Kyle and Reala's world or something... Why would there be not one, not two, but THREE pictures of people from their world here in Eternia?"

"Does this picture turn, too?" Farah said, walking up to the picture of Stahn. She touched it in the same manner as Keele had the other two times, but nothing happened.

"Meredy thinks that this picture of Stahn is a reference." Said the Celestian girl. "Perhaps there is another picture of Stahn on this floor, and we need to move the picture to be in this position." Keele scratched his chin.

"So, we should memorize this picture's orientation..." He said. "Well, Stahn's large mullet is pointing left... That shouldn't be too hard to remember..."

"Perhaps we can find more pictures if we go into this door..." Farah said. "Maybe we'll find the reference pictures for turning the pictures of Philia and Rutee and also find the rotating picture of Stahn..."

And, just as she said, in the next hallway were three pictures, one of each person that was seen in the other rooms. However, this time, the picture of Philia was upside down, the picture of Rutee was tipped on its right side, and the picture of Stahn was in a normal orientation. Kyle instantly ran over to the picture of his father and touched the picture repeatedly until it was facing in the direction that was shown in the other room. There was a small clicking noise when the picture was oriented correctly. Kyle touched the picture again, but nothing happened.

"Well, I guess once you've got it correct, it doesn't move anymore..." Reala said.

"That's good." Kyle said. "That'll make our lives easier..."

"We should split up so that we can get the other two pictures going the right way faster." Farah said. "Reid, Reala, and Meredy can take one picture and Kyle, Keele, and I will go for the other. Okay?" The six travelers nodded, and then rushed through the door they had entered the hallway from and back into the other rooms. Soon, all three pictures were in the correct positions, and a loud high pitched noise emanated through the floor.

"Meredy thinks that means we can go to the next floor now..." Meredy said once the team had gotten back together. "Now, we should try to go up the stairs again..."

"I can't wait to get out of this place..." Reid complained. "I'm tired, and a bit hungry, too..."

"You're always hungry..." Keele groaned. "It's like your stomach is a bottomless pit..."

"I'm hungry, too!" Kyle said. Keele looked at Kyle after he had said this.

"Your stomach is the same as Reid's..." The blue haired scholar added. "Seriously, you two are alike in so many ways..."

"Actually, even I'm hungry..." Farah said. "Let's get out of here..." She began to ascend the stairs slowly. Soon, after she had climbed halfway up, she called back down to everybody. "Well, I guess that was the ticket..." She said. "Let's go!" The rest of the team ascended the stairs quickly and hurried through the door...

To be met with another floor...

"Okay, it's official..." Reid said, falling onto the ground. "We're never gonna get out of here..."

"Don't worry..." Farah said. "There's gotta be an end to this somewhere along the road..."

"But this is the EIGHTH floor!" Reid continued to complain. "I'm so tired of this!" Kyle went to open his mouth to complain, too, but Keele gave the younger boy an angry glare.

"YOU are not allowed to complain..." Keele said while crossing his arms. "You weren't awake when we completed the first couple floors... You should be in better condition than any of us!" That shut the fair-haired boy up. The travelers moved into the new puzzle, and Reid forced himself to his feet to catch up with the others.

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene: **Okay, so I sorta changed the layout of the second floor... So sue me... Anyways, originally this and the next chapter were supposed to be one longer chapter, but I decided that it would be a really long chapter if was kept that way, so I decided to split it into two chapters... Next chapter: The team finally gets out of Chat's hut! Hooray!


	13. Chapter 12: Chatting with Captain Chat

**Two Destinies Chapter 12: Chatting with Captain Chat**

**Author's Preface: **Lol, bad title… At least it's alliteration… *shot* Anyways, this ends the Chat's Hut chapters… At last! We'll finally meet Chat in this part! *inserts obligatory claim that none of the characters in this story are mine*

* * *

"Well, let's find out what the puzzle on this floor is…" Farah said. "Come on…"

"Maybe we'll find pictures of King Woodrow, my uncle, and the other adventurers who accompanied my mom and dad on their journey?" Kyle joked.

"Who knows? I think we're done with the pictures, though…" Reid said.

"Let's just move along…" Keele said, moving ahead. He disappeared behind a door.

"Okay, let's follow Keele!" Meredy said, skipping off to join Keele. The rest of the team followed along behind.

The team moved through the hallway with no difficulties, coming into a small area that looked like a library. Keele instantly rushed over to the books.

"I wonder what this book is…" He said, pulling out a blue-covered book.

"Typical Keele…" Reid sighed. "Goes straight for the books…"

"What is that book called, Keele?" Meredy asked.

"I don't know…" He said. "There's no title on the front cover… And nothing on the side…" Keele flipped open the book, and disgust suddenly highlighted his face.

"Something wrong, Keele?" Reala said.

"T-there aren't any words on the pages!" Keele said, flabbergasted. He started to rapidly flip through the book, and soon his face had turned pale. "N-not a single word anywhere in this book!"

"Maybe it's an unused diary?" Kyle asked innocently. Keele flung the book at Kyle's head, barely missing. "Whoa! What was that all about?!?"

"Grr… I meant to whack some sense into your thick skull…" Keele said. Reid chuckled.

"Too bad you have terrible aim…" He said. Keele frowned.

"S-shut up!" Keele said. "Anyways, it's not a diary! There are no lines to write on in it…"

"Then what is it supposed to be?" Farah said, picking up the book from behind Kyle and returning it to the shelf. However, just as she was putting the book back on the shelf in an empty spot between two yellow books, Keele nearly tackled her.

"That book doesn't belong there!" He said. "That book goes here!" Keele snatched the book from Farah and put the book on another shelf between two books with matching blue covers. Reala picked up a book with a red cover that was near her feet.

"There are books all over the ground…" She said, opening the book. "Hmm… This book also has nothing written in it…"

"Let's just pick up all of these books and put them back on the shelf, then…" Keele said. "That's all these dummy books are good for… Decorating these bookshelves…" He had a couple books in his arms and starting trying to find where they went. The others went to pick up books.

Suddenly, a couple minutes later, there was the sound of something ripping. Keele's head whipped around faster than anybody could say "Oops".

"All right…" He said. "What was that?" Everybody looked at each other with confused faces. Just then, Keele began to stare at Kyle's lower body with a look combined of pure horror and rage highlighting his face.

"W-what's wrong, Keele?" The blond haired boy asked, tilting his head innocently.

"L-look at your left foot…" Keele said, advancing upon Kyle. The smaller boy looked down at his foot. There was a small purple-covered book lying open and face down underneath him. Kyle bent over to pick up the book, but a page was left behind on the ground with jagged edges. Apparently, the page had ripped when Kyle stepped on it.

"Oops?" Kyle said. "Aah, it doesn't matter…" The fair-haired child shrugged, holding the damaged book in his right hand. "These pages don't have anything on them anyways, so who's gonna miss a…" Just then, Keele tackled Kyle and snatched the purple book from his hand.

"You have no respect for books!" Keele barked. "So what if this book doesn't have any words written on it? What if it did?!?"

"It's just one page…" Kyle said, still a little dazed. Keele took the book and whacked the forehead of the ignorant child, who recoiled in pain and put a hand on his head.

"One page can change an entire story!" Keele said, getting off of Kyle, having done what he had meant to do. "Besides, what would you know? I bet you've never read a book in your life…" Kyle sat up quickly.

"Hey!" He said. "I'm not illiterate! Besides, back home, it doesn't matter if I can read or not!" Just then, Reala ran over to Kyle to hold him. Farah crossed her arms.

"All right, you two!" She said. "This is enough! You two need to stop arguing! Seriously, I don't know who argues with Keele worse, Reid or Kyle…"

"Farah is right!" Meredy said. "We should just keep putting these books back." The dark-skinned girl continued to put books on the shelf. The rest of the team started putting books on the shelves again, now that the distraction was over. Just then, Reid picked up a rather beat up book with brown bindings and stared at it.

"This is odd…" He said. "This book seems different than the others…" He opened up the book. "Hey, there are actually words in this one! …But they're hard to read… It's written out in longhand…"

"What does it say?" Meredy asked.

"Hmm… I think it's a story about… Us! I see my name… And Farah's… And…" Just then, Kyle snatched the book out of Reid's hands. "Hey!" The boy buried his face into the book, and withdrew his head within seconds.

"Hey! This is my journal!" Kyle said. "You're not supposed to read this!" Kyle put the book back into his bag. Reid crossed his arms.

"A journal?" He said. "Why do you keep a journal?"

"I'm chronicling my journeys so that everybody can read about all my adventures once I become a hero…" Reid's face was crossed with confusion.

"Huh?" He said. "What do you mean by that? Also, why won't you let me read it if you're going to share your journeys with other people anyways?" Kyle stood up with another book in his hand.

"It's incomplete." The boy said smugly. "I don't want anybody to read it until I've actually achieved my goal of becoming a hero…" Reid scratched his head, shrugged, and continued to pick up books.

---

Eventually, almost all the books were put back into place. There was just one left, and it was in Farah's possession.

"Well, this is the last one." She said. "Perhaps Keele will stop fussing over these books once they're all back in place." Farah replaced the book, and, all of a sudden, the ground started shaking.

"Whoa!" Meredy said. "What is going on?" Just then, as if to answer Meredy's question, one of the book cases slid over and revealed a secret passage. Everybody stared into the hidden nook. Inside the small area was sitting the Toy Spring. Reala stepped into the nook and grabbed the spring.

"Well, I guess putting those books away was worth it…" She giggled. "Now, let's see if we can find the duck…" She exited the hidden passage and accompanied her friends back through the hallways back to the main area.

* * *

The team went into the corridor on the other side of the area and, after traversing the hallway, found themselves a room with lots of barrels. These barrels were moved aside to reveal a path to the Toy Duck, and they reassembled the duck once more.

"All right, let's get off of this floor…" Farah said. "That's yet another puzzle solved!" She and her friends returned to the main area to solve this puzzle just as they did the others. Meredy took the duck and wound it up like she had done with the others. And, just as the duck hit the button, there was a clicking sound, as usual, followed by another louder sound that was unheard on the other floors.

"Okay, that sounded different…" Reid said. "I wonder what…" Just then, something flew down from above and landed with a thud. The ground shook upon the thing landing.

"Whoa!" Reala said while nearly falling over from the shockwave. The team recovered from the shaking and looked up to see a large object at the top of the staircase, guarding the door to the next floor.

"What is that?" Meredy asked.

"Whatever it is, it's blocking our way out…" Farah said, putting up her fists.

"Hey, big guy!" Kyle said, pulling out his sword and pointing it at the thing at the top of the stairs. "Get out of our way!" There was no response.

"Maybe it's asleep…" Reala said. "Perhaps we can get by it while it's out of it…" Just then, as if to prove her wrong, the sound of gunfire filled the air. A rain of bullets poured down near them.

"Err, I think we're gonna need to defeat that thing before we leave…" Reid said, unsheathing his sword. "So, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Everybody else pulled out their weapons and ran up the stairs, dodging bullets as they ascended. Keele and Meredy stopped at the top of the stairs to put some distance between them and the Guardian so they could cast spells. Just then, the Guardian revealed a giant sword of his own and began to slash at the adventurers. However, its sword was so big and bulky, it had some difficulty swinging it and it was easy to dodge.

"Okay!" Farah said, getting near the Guardian. "Take this!" She kicked at the Guardian a few times, staggering its next slash attack. "Sonic Fist!" She threw a fury of punches at the Guardian and focused for her next attack. "Rising Dragon Strike!" She rose into the air with tremendous force that would have lifted a smaller enemy clean off the ground. While in the air, Farah prepared her next attack. "Eagle Dive!" With just as much force as she had used with Rising Dragon Strike, she drove a kick downward back toward the ground and quickly recovered.

"My turn!" Reid said, flipping over a blade strike. "Sword Rain!" Reid showered the Guardian with repeated sword thrusts. "Tiger Rage!" Reid jumped into the air, slashing as he ascended and once again as he was midair, coming down with one last slash. "Now, check this out, you guys!" Reid's eyes glowed with a new kind of power. "Rending Tiger Blade!" Reid repeatedly slashed up and down as he jumped in the air multiple times for a total of eight strikes.

"Wow, was that a new attack?" Meredy said. "Reid is getting stronger!"

"Heh… Yeah, I guess I am!" Reid said, turning to look at Meredy and gloating at his new found strength.

"Reid! Watch out!" Kyle yelled. Reid turned around to see a sword slash coming at him quickly. However, also quickly approaching was Kyle. The younger boy pushed Reid down and out of the trajectory of the attack. However, the sword strike slashed Kyle dead center, and he flew backwards off the top of the stairs, blood streaming from his side where the attack had hit. Reala gasped. Seconds later, Kyle landed on the tiled floor below with a thud. Kyle's side was still bleeding, his eyes were closed, and he would not move. Reid stared at the fallen magic knight from where he had hit the ground after being pushed down.

"No…" He said. "That attack… He only got hit because of me…"

"Reid! There's another attack coming for you!" Farah yelled. "Don't let Kyle's sacrifice have been in vain!" The Guardian's fist was coming down toward Reid. Reid rolled out of the way of the attack, and then stood up.

"You're speaking as if Kyle's dead, Farah…" Reid said, staring at her.

"I'd be surprised if he wasn't dead…" Keele said somberly. "He fell quite a ways, as well as sustained quite a bad blow…"

"You're wrong!" Reala yelled, fighting back tears. "Kyle's stronger than that! He has to be alive! He just has to be!" She redirected her feelings toward the enemy that had inflicted the terrible blow to the boy she loved. "You'll pay for this!" She said, spinning her staff around. The Lens pendant on her neck began to shine brightly with a blue color. "Take this! Final Embrace!" A large chunk of ice fell onto the Guardian. Meredy gasped.

"Reala, no! Reala should not use that attack! Reala does not have the power of Celsius!" However, the Lens continued to glow even brighter with a blue aura, and Meredy's Craymel Cage started glowing blue as well.

"Answer to my calling, and arise!" Reala said, her voice seemingly radiating with magic. A blue ball of light shot out from Meredy's Craymel cage.

"Undine!" Meredy called. "What is Undine doing?" Suddenly, Undine appeared amongst black and white lights, apparently summoned by Reala.

"Oh calm soul!" Reala continued. "Grant us the power of the righteous judgment! This is our hearts' justice! Aqua Rimms!" Undine held up her spear and a wall of water rushed in and collapsed around the Guardian. The Guardian, being mechanical, started to spark and malfunction having been exposed to water. It collapsed seconds later, still sparking. The water from the spell flowed over the side of the raised area and onto the tiled floor below, where it began to pool.

"Hey, this water's refreshing…" Reid said, somewhat drenched. "It's cool and soothing… I feel so relaxed…"

"You're right…" Farah said. "It seems this water has restorative properties… I feel energized and ready to fight… Even though there's nothing to fight anymore…" She stared once again at the fallen Guardian, who was starting to have smoke come out from its joints.

"Look, everybody!" Meredy said, pointing towards something. Everybody looked at what Meredy was pointing towards. Her finger was aimed at Kyle, who was still lying in the same position he had been in when he first fell. The water from Reala's spell was starting to surround him, and as it flowed over the blood that had poured from his wound, it vanished as if he had never bled in the first place. Soon, the water level began to rise to a point where the wound on Kyle's side was beginning to submerge. As the cut dipped underwater, it disappeared, leaving behind no sign that the wound had ever been there in the first place. The team ran down to where Kyle was. Reala scooped him up into her arms.

"Kyle, are you okay? Please, give me any sign that you're still all right…" She said. Just then, his one hand twitched a little, and his eyes fluttered open.

"I'm… all right?" He said quietly. "Dad… I had another dream of my dad…"

"What did Kyle's father say this time?" Meredy inquired.

"He… kept telling me… 'waitun'…" Kyle said, starting to return to his full strength. "He was speaking to me in Melnics again, wasn't he?"

"That means 'come'…" Keele said. "…Right, Meredy?" The purple hair girl nodded. "And maybe by asking you to come, perhaps he was beckoning you towards the afterlife…"

"I wanted to join him…" Kyle said, somewhat regretful. "But my body wouldn't move… It's like my mind wanted to pass away and be with my father, but my body knew better… That it wasn't my time yet…"

"And thank goodness it wasn't…" Reala said, hugging Kyle. "I don't know what I would have done if you had died…"

"Well, are you okay enough to walk?" Reid asked. Kyle rose to his feet.

"I feel like a million Gald!" He said, smiling. However, Reala sank onto her hands and knees.

"Hey, are you okay?" Farah asked. "What's wrong?"

"I'm all right…" Reala said, forcing a smile. "I just feel a little drained from using an ice spell… At least by using Aqua Rimms, I was able to save myself from being totally drained…"

"We can rest in the next area…" Kyle said. "Can you go a little farther?" Reala rose to her feet.

"I'm all right now…" She said. "Let's go…" She and the rest of the team returned to the top of the stairs, tiptoed past the fallen Guardian and walked into the next room…

To find that they were finally out of the dungeon!

"Hey! We're finally out!" Reid said happily. "I can't believe it! We're free!"

"I guess the Guardian was our final challenge…" Keele said, crossing his arms and forcing out a smile.

"So, you guys actually made it out of those traps?" Said an unfamiliar voice.

"Who's there?!?" Farah said, putting up her fists. A somewhat small person appeared from behind a door. This person was wearing a red shirt with white sleeves, gray gloves, orange shorts, white shoes that went up to the pants and a large black hat with light blue feathers coming from the top of it. Everybody stared at this strange Celestian.

"Who's this little boy?" Reid said, examining the child, who, without the hat, would be no taller than his shoulders. The child crossed its arms.

"I am NOT a boy!" The child said. "My name is Chat! I'm a descendant of the great and honorable pirate Aifread!" Everybody stared at this strange girl.

"Wait, you're a girl?" Kyle said. "You sure don't look like one…"

"Hmph!" Chat said, turning away. "I WAS about to compliment you for surviving my great grandfather's traps, but apparently…"

"Wait, so that dungeon was created by your great grandfather?" Reala said. "He has pictures of people from our world…"

"Hmm… That's interesting…" Chat said, still turned away.

"Look, my friends are sorry for insulting you…" Keele said, glaring at the two idiots in the party. "My name is Keele Zeibel…" Chat turned around.

"All right, it seems you guys aren't completely useless… Perhaps I can make use of you guys as deckhands for my pirate ship…"

"Pirate ship? Deckhands?" Reid said. "I'm not swabbing any decks!"

"I didn't say deckswabbers!" Chat said. "I said deckhands… You can be my pirate crew!"

"Pirate crew?" Farah said. "Aren't you a little young to be having such fantasies?"

"Fantasies?!?" Chat said. "This is not a fantasy! I am living in the footsteps of my great grandfather! He even left me his boat to explore the seas of Celestia with!"

"And what kind of a boat was that?" Keele said. "It's probably just a little life boat…"

"Follow me and prepare to take your words back…" Chat walked off, and, curious, the rest of the team followed.

Eventually, the team came upon a room that was so dark that nobody could even see their hands in front of their faces. Just then, the lights flashed on, and the travelers gazed upon a large vessel that was decorated with what seemed to be brightly colored windows along its side.

"T-that's no life boat…" Keele said. His eyes then began to glow. "Wow! This is one amazing ship! I've never seen anything like it!"

"And you won't see anything like it again…" Chat said, gloating. "This is the famous Van Eltia! This ship was used to terrorize the seven seas of Celestia back in my great grandfather's day…"

"It sure is interesting…" Farah said. "Does it go fast?" Chat laughed.

"That's like asking if Craymel Lamps emit light!" She said. "Of course it goes fast!"

"Then can it quickly take us to Peruti?" Reala asked.

"Peruti?" Chat repeated. "No problem… I'll get you there quickly. But there's one condition…"

"What's that?" Kyle asked.

"You guys have to be my pirate crew." She said.

"Absolutely!" Keele said with his eyes still fixated on the Van Eltia. "I'll join!"

"Okay…" Reid said. "And I thought he'd be the last person to want to join her pirate crew… I bet he just wants to get inside and check out the interior…"

"I think it's not a bad exchange…" Farah said. "Count me in."

"I'll join too." Reala said.

"Waiiru!" Meredy giggled and spun around. "Meredy will join Chat's pirate crew as well!"

"Eh, why not…" Kyle said, shrugging. "What about you, Reid?" Reid blinked.

"Aah, what the heck… I'm in." Reid said. "Well, let's head for Peruti, then… Keele, we're going onboard…"

"All right!" The blue haired Craymel mage hurried inside the Van Eltia before anybody could say 'wait'. Everybody else followed inside.

The ship seemed more spacious on the inside than it did on the outside. Chat continued to walk onward, but turned around just before she left the area.

"I'm gonna fire up the boat and get us sailing for Peruti…" She said. "The rest of you are to check out the rest of the ship, as long as you don't destroy anything or interfere with my sailing." The pirate girl disappeared after saying that.

"I wonder if there are any beds to lie on here…" Farah said. "All those puzzles have made me tired…"

"I'm gonna go find where the kitchen is…" Reid said, licking his lips. He started to run off, when, suddenly, the boat unexpectedly shook, nearly knocking everybody off their feet. When the shaking stopped, a voice called out to them.

"All right, we're sailing…" Chat's voice told them. "We should be in Peruti in no time…"

"Well, at least the ship doesn't seem like it's rocking now…" Meredy said.

"Now, this was definitely worth those puzzles…" Keele said, the boat's euphoria seemingly worn down a little. "This technology is amazing… There's nothing even remotely close to this in the Inferian Navy… It's all so breathtaking…"

"And we'll be in Peruti in no time…" Farah said. "So, let's check out the rest of the boat!" The team split up and each person headed their own way as the Van Eltia sailed on toward Peruti and the next leg of the adventure…

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene: **Another chapter's done! Yay! The next chapter's gonna be a bonus skit chapter for this and the other 11 chapters prior. :D Also, credit goes out to Kevassa02 on Youtube for his video of subbed Tales of Destiny 2 Hi-Ougi incantations. Reala's incantation of Aqua Rimms was taken from his video. Enjoy the next chapter! ^^


	14. Bonus Skit Chapter 1!

**Two Destinies Bonus Skit Chapter #1: Chapters 1-12 (and other randomness, too)**

**Author's Note:** Yay, it's time for me to attempt to make you guys laugh with skits! I'm gonna try to have one skit per chapter (except chapter 6, since I don't feel like making skits about villains…). Just to warn you guys, my humor might be a little dry... Something I find funny you guys might not... Oh, well... There should be something in this pack of skits that will make any reader laugh... (At least, I'm hoping... :3)

Here's how to read these: Before each skit is a title (if I can think of a good one) that is underlined and a place in the story where this skit would most likely occur if this story was a game. The character who is talking will have their name in front of their line. Text in between two asterisks (like *this*) means action. Two sets of parentheses around text, like ((this)), means a character is thinking. One set of parentheses either means author's notes or other cues.

I hope you enjoy them! ^_^

* * *

Worlds and Their Names

Story location: Chapter 1, after Kyle wakes up but before Reala does

Reid: Wait, so you're not from Inferia, are you?

Kyle: No… I've never heard of it. Is that a town?

Reid: Actually, it's a world. *points up* It's up there…

Kyle: *stares up for a few seconds* So… Inferia is… heaven?

Reid: Ha ha ha… No, you silly! Inferia is on the other side of those clouds. It's as much of a world as this one is.

Kyle: Aaah… And that's where you're from?

Reid: Yup. So, seeing as you aren't from Inferia and not from Celestia, either, where ARE you from?

Kyle: Well, I come from a world called… umm…

Reid: Is there something wrong? Did you get amnesia from hitting your head on this bed here or something?

Kyle: No… It's nothing like that…

Reid: Then what is it?

Kyle: It's just that… *scratches head* Geez, I really can't remember ever learning a name for my world…

Reid: So, does that mean that you come from a world without a name?

Kyle: W-well, I dunno… Just because I don't know what it is doesn't mean it doesn't have a name… Or maybe it really DOESN'T have a name…

Reid: That's strange…

* * *

Wait, You're HOW Old?!?

Story Location: Chapter 1, once everybody has been introduced to one another

Keele: Geez, people from other worlds seem to go off on adventures at much younger ages…

Kyle: Huh? What's that supposed to mean?

Keele: Well, just look at you two. You're both kinda… Immature…

Reala: Immature?

Kyle: HEY! I am NOT immature! I just haven't gone through puberty yet! My mom says my dad was a late bloomer, as well…

Farah: Late? Wait, how old ARE you?

Kyle: *blushes* I-I turn sixteen in five months…

Keele: Wait, you're fifteen? You look like you could pass for a thirteen year old kid…

Kyle: H-hey! Just because I'm short doesn't mean you can assume that I'm thirteen!

Reid: And I bet Reala's around fourteen, right?

Reala: A-actually… I'm sixteen…

Meredy: Waiiru! Meredy is sixteen, too!

Farah: You're Meredy's age? Wow, you both definitely look young for your ages…

Reid: Then again, so does Meredy…

Meredy: Baiba!

Reala: And just how old are you guys?

Reid: I turned eighteen about a month ago and Farah and Keele are seventeen…

Keele: I'll be eighteen pretty soon!

Farah: Come on, Keele… You had your seventeenth birthday three months ago. My eighteenth birthday's gonna come around before yours…

Keele: L-let's just head out for Imen now…

(Author's note: I just sorta made up random birthdays for the characters; don't ask about my logic…)

* * *

Mystery Magic

Story Location: Chapter 2, after the battle

Keele: So… How does Lens magic work?

Kyle: Hmm? *looks around* Are you asking me?

Keele: Is there anybody else here?

Kyle: Well, no… But…

Keele: Then answer me!

Kyle: I-I don't know! I'm just a simple country kid, not a genius scholar!

Keele: Was that a snub aimed at me?

Kyle: (ignoring Keele) Maybe Reala knows… Hey, Reala!

Reala: *comes into skit* Yes, Kyle?

Kyle: D'you have any idea how Lens magic works?

Reala: Well… It's… somewhat hard to explain…

Keele: Ugh, never mind… Maybe it'll be better if I just observe this from the field…

Kyle: Observe? Like…

Reala: Some kind of research?

Keele: N-no! Not at all! ((Rats! I think they're onto me!))

* * *

Two Tales

Story Location: Chapter 2, after the battle

Reid: I see you're a swordsman like me…

Kyle: Yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you sooner.

Reid: Don't sweat it. There is one thing I do have to ask about…

Kyle: What's that?

Reid: Where did you learn to use a sword?

Kyle: Well, my mom wanted me to start sword training from a young age because my dad was a great swordsman, too… But I mostly learned from practicing with my best friend, Loni…

Reid: Loni? Who's that?

Kyle: He's a great guy. I wish you could meet him… He's like an older brother to me… I wonder what happened to him… I hope that evil witch didn't kill him…

Reid: Evil witch?

Kyle: She's the reason Reala and I were sent here. Me, Reala, Loni, and a couple of other people were trying to stop her from reviving a goddess…

Reid: Oh, so you were on an adventure back on your world, too?

Kyle: Yeah. But now it looks like Reala and I are gonna be a part of your adventure…

Reid: Well, I'm glad you guys are gonna help us stop the Grand Fall.

Kyle: Heh, thanks. Maybe you guys could come with Reala and me to help us with our adventure once we're done here.

Reid: I dunno… I'll think about it…

* * *

Melnic Mystery

Story Location: Chapter 3, after the dream sequence

Meredy: Kyle does not speak Melnics, does Kyle?

Kyle: No… Why do you ask?

Meredy: If Kyle's father can speak Melnics, why not Kyle?

Kyle: Melnics isn't a language on my world…

Farah: But that does raise a good question: where DID your father learn Melnics?

Meredy: Did Kyle's father ever come to Celestia before?

Kyle: I highly doubt it… Otherwise, I would have probably known about it…

Reala: But didn't your dad leave you and your mom when you were really young?

Kyle: What about it? My mom always told me stories about my dad's accomplishments. He's my role model… I wanna explore lots of places like he did…

Farah: Well, Celestia's a start…

Meredy: Perhaps Kyle can explore Inferia, too!

Kyle: Yeah! Why explore one world… When I can explore three of them!

Meredy: Waiiru!

Reala: …What does that mean?

Farah: I dunno… Some words just… get lost in translation, I guess… It's a mystery to me…

* * *

Strength and Swords

Story Location: Chapter 3, after obtaining the Train Cage

Kyle: Dammit… This thing is heavy… How are you two able to fare that well?

Reid: I'm a hunter. I carry around dead animals all the time… I guess I just got practice carrying weight after hunting for so long…

Farah: I'm a martial artist. Strength of mind and strength of body are necessary to be a good martial artist.

Reid: What about you? I thought you need to be pretty strong to be a swordsman. I mean, seriously, swords are heavy objects.

Kyle: Mine isn't…

Reid: Huh? Lemme see it. Farah, can we put this down for a second?

Farah: Sure. *Farah, Reid, and Kyle put down the Train Cage*

Reid: Now, show me your sword.

Kyle: *unsheathes sword* Here, check it out.

Reid: *takes sword* Wow! This thing's as light as a feather! *swings it around*

Keele: Hey! Watch where you're swinging that thing! You nearly took my hair off!

Reid: *gives the sword back* So, I guess that means you're actually a wimp…

Kyle: What did you just call me?!?

Reid: Well, your sword isn't a proper weight…

Kyle: (slightly annoyed) The reason it's so light is because it was specially made with consideration to my height…

Farah: What does that have anything to do with this?

Reid: Here, take my sword, Kyle…

Kyle: *takes sword* …Wow, how do you fight with this? I can barely hold it properly!

Reid: You really are a wimp… That's not even a very heavy sword, but at least it's an average weight sword…

Kyle: (lost his patience) I'm still a wimp in your eyes? Feel my "wimpy" wrath, then! Burn Strike!

Reid: Ow ow ow! Okay, I take it back! Sorry!

* * *

The Exciting Train Ride

Story Location: Chapter 4, after escaping the train

Keele: Whew! That was a close call...

Meredy: That was exciting! Meredy wants to have more excitement like that!

Farah: Meredy, we nearly died today... Do you really want to have more experiences like that?

Meredy: Meredy thinks that was... how to say it in Inferian... Fun!

Keele: Fun?!? Nearly getting roasted in a train crash explosion is fun?

Reala: Perhaps she means the actual train ride before everything got out of control was fun?

Meredy: No... Meredy means jumping off the speeding train was fun!

Keele: Meredy needs to look up what "fun" means in a dictionary...

* * *

Sleeping Alone

Story Location: Chapter 5, after everybody goes into their tents to sleep

Keele: I snore? W-why did Meredy hold out from telling me that until now? M-maybe if I try sleeping differently, I can stop snoring... I mean, snoring is caused by the throat being blocked, so maybe just sleeping on my side instead of my back could change... (strange noise from outside the tent) W-w-what was that?!? *sighs* Pull yourself together, Keele... It's probably nothing... (noise repeats) Yipe! T-that didn't sound like nothing... M-maybe if I used a Holy Bottle and poured it in front of the tent entrance, whatever is making that noise will go away... *pulls out a Holy Bottle* Gee, if Reid was here, he'd be making fun of my paranoia and telling me that whatever is making the noise is probably not going to bother us... Oh, well... *pours the contents of the bottle out in front of the tent* There. That should do the... (noise repeats) Aaaah! T-t-that didn't w-w-work! I'm so done for... I... (noise repeats even louder) Wait a minute... That sounds like... Snoring... *exits the tent and goes up to the other tents* I wonder which tent the snoring is coming... (another snore) Aha! The snoring is coming from... *peeks into tent* (whispering to self) ...Either Kyle or Reala... (snore from Kyle) So... You're the one responsible for snoring... Ha! And you were making fun of ME snoring? I'll never let you live this down...

Kyle: (half-asleep) Keele? What are you doing?

Keele: Eep! *runs away*

Kyle: ...Man, what a creep. Stalking me like that...

* * *

We're JUST Friends!

Story Location: Chapter 5, after the team is reunited

Meredy: I had no idea!

Reid: What are you talking about, Meredy?

Meredy: Meredy saw Kyle on Reid's back!

Kyle: Well... That was...

Farah: Reid... What were you doing with Kyle on your back?

Reid: I-it was an accident, I swear!

Keele: Oho! Or was it?

Reid: S-shut up, Keele!

Kyle: We're just friends, that's all...

Farah: Well, at least Reid's made a friend who's a guy for once...

Reid: Farah! I have other guy friends!

Farah: Really? Name one other, then...

Keele: And I don't count...

Reid: Well... There's... Umm... Rrgh, rats. Farah's right... But you guys saw a prime example why I don't make friends with guys!

Keele: I thought it was because you always argue with other guys...

Reid: Hey, didn't I tell you to shut up earlier?

* * *

Watch Your Step, Keele!

Story Location: Chapter 7, as soon as the team arrives in Luishka

Farah: There's a ton of debris everywhere...

Reala: Some of it's really big... I hope nobody trips on anything...

Meredy: We need to go see Galenos! Come!

Farah: Hey, Keele, watch your robes... You have a bad habit of tripping...

Keele: Do not!

Reid: It's because he's a klutz that he trips so often...

Keele: Hey! I am not a klutz! And I rarely ever...

Kyle: Hey, Keele?

Keele: Not now! I'm busy arguing with Reid!

Kyle: But...

Keele: What part of... Aah! *falls onto Reid*

Reid: Aah! Get off of me, you clumsy nerd! My point stands!

Kyle: *facepalms* I was trying to warn you that your robes got caught on a piece of debris, Keele...

Keele: ...

Reala: *frees Keele's robes* Let's just keep going... Please, no arguing here...

* * *

Subconscious Power

Story Location: Chapter 7, the next morning after the battle

Reid: So, tell me what exactly happened last night.

Farah: Well, Kyle was battling in his sleep...

Kyle: Seriously, guys... I don't know why I just randomly started fighting in my sleep... I mean, usually, when I have nightmares, I roll around in my sleep and maybe roll out of bed, but I never...

Keele: We know, we know. And that's what makes it even weirder. Are you sure you've never had any cases of somnambulism in the past?

Kyle: Cases of what?

Keele: Ugh, that's right... I have to put everything into Layman's terms for you... Do you or did you ever sleepwalk?

Kyle: No... I said that already!

Reala: What I'M wondering about is that Arte you used... I've never seen you use any high tier spells before...

Meredy: Yes! Kyle used Voltic Heat!

Keele: It's odd that you were able to use an ability that you've never used before while awake when you were sleeping...

Kyle: Well, maybe I activated one of my subconscious powers!

Reid: Subconscious powers?

Keele: Pfft, don't be ridiculous. There's no such thing.

Farah: Do you have any proof, Keele? Maybe he's right...

Keele: Hmm... There's no evidence of this... Perhaps I can observe Kyle while he's sleeping to see if he unlocks anymore of these "subconscious powers"...

Kyle: I changed my mind, it's definitely just an ability I've been holding back and not using this entire time... Please don't stalk me!

* * *

The Waiting Game

Story Location: Chapter 8, after the car gets derailed

Reid: *yawns* I'm bored. Can we go see what happened to the others? I hope they're all right...

Keele: We shouldn't backtrack. We don't want to lose the ground that we've already gained...

Farah: Who knows how far back we lost the others... I know! Let's play a game while we're waiting!

Reid: What kind of game?

Farah: Um... I Spy?

Keele: That will get redundant after a couple rounds. All I see is us, the tracks, and the cave...

Reid: I spy something boring!

Keele: Hey!

Farah: Guys, knock it off. How about a staring contest?

Keele: A staring contest?

Reid: Ugh, that's the last thing I want to do... Stare at Keele for more than a minute...

Keele: *glares at Reid*

Reid: *stares back*

Farah: Guys?

(later)

Keele: *blinks* Guh!

Reid: I win! Ha ha ha!

Keele: How much time did that kill?

Farah: About 30 seconds...

Reid: Got any more suggestions for games to play, Farah?

Farah: Nope, sorry.

Keele: Looks like we just have to play the Waiting Game, now...

Reid: Ugh...

* * *

Pass the Person: Keele Version

Story Location: Chapter 8, after the team is reunited and Kyle retells his story

Keele: So... It was like they were playing some kind of game with you?

Kyle: I guess... It sorta seemed that way...

Reid: What was the game like?

Kyle: Here, let me show you... Catch, Reid! *pushes Keele*

Keele: Aah!

Reid: Oh, I see... Catch! *pushes Keele towards Farah*

Farah: Reid! I don't wanna be part of this! *pushes Keele away*

Keele: Guys, stop this! Aaah!

Meredy: Hweel! Looks fun! *pushes Keele back towards Reid*

Reid: Ha ha! This sure is fun!

Keele: I-it's not fun for me!

Reid: Catch, Reala! *pushes Keele towards Reala*

Reala: But... I'm not... *Keele falls right on top of her* Ow...

Kyle: Ack! Reala!

Reala: I was gonna say that I'm not very strong... I really can't play this game...

Keele: At least it's done now... Ugh... I'm so dizzy...

Kyle: ...

* * *

Enchantment Gone Wrong

Story Location: Chapter 9, after the battle with Gnome (Author's Note: After re-reading the chapter, I realized that this is what I SHOULD have written... XD)

Gnome: So, you want me to enchant your Lens with my magic?

Reala: Yes, please.

Kyle: Me too! I want to be able to use my earth magic?

Gnome: ...Fine, very well... *charges up energy and throws it at Reala*

Reala: Thank you, Gnome. *bows*

Gnome: As for you... *flings the energy at Kyle*

Kyle: Uh, oh... *energy ball bounces off Kyle's head* Aah! *falls over, and the energy enters his Lens*

Keele: Why did I not forsee that coming? *sighs*

Kyle: (still on the ground) What do you have against me, Gnome?

Gnome: That's my revenge for you waking me up so rudely...

Kyle: (still on the ground) I said I was sorry! *gets up*

Gnome: Now that that's out of my system, apology accepted...

Kyle: You just wanted to throw something at my head again, didn't you?

Gnome: Yep...

Kyle: Ugh...

* * *

Fringing is...

Story Location: Chapter 9, after obtaining Gnome

Reala: Say, Meredy?

Meredy: What is it, Reala?

Reala: You and Keele just performed something called Fringing, right?

Meredy: That is correct.

Reala: Can you tell me what Fringing is?

Kyle: Actually, I was wondering the same thing.

Meredy: Well, Fringing is... well... Fringing is where Craymels make new spells!

Reala: How?

Meredy: Meredy does not know how to say in English...

Keele: Let me take over. Craymel Fringing is where the Craymels combine, and they in turn create new abilities by mixing their powers together...

Kyle: Combine... You mean like... Oh, yuck! Gross!

Keele: Huh? ...N-not like that kind of combining, you idiot! Just the powers combine, not the Craymels themselves!

Kyle: Ohh... Okay.

Keele: Ugh, idiots these days... Who knew idiocy went hand in hand with pervertedness?

* * *

Heavy Sleeper

Story Location: Chapter 10, on Floor 7 of Chat's Hut

Farah: It seems there's a switch here that needs a weight put upon it...

Meredy: Meredy will be the weight! *walks onto the switch* Now we can go!

Reid: All right. Let's go.

Keele: W-wait, Meredy! *door closes again once she moves off of the switch* I was going to say that you'll need to stay there until we return...

Meredy: But Meredy wants to go, too!

Reala: I have an idea... Why don't we use Kyle as a weight?

Reid: Hmm... He is still asleep...

Kyle: (asleep) ...

Farah: Okay, I guess that will work. I mean, unless he gets up, that is.

Keele: Hmm... Maybe it's a good thing that he's such a heavy sleeper...

Reid: *sets Kyle onto the switch, and the door reopens* Okay, let's go.

(once the team returns)

Reala: Well, he's still here... Thank goodness...

Kyle: ...

Reid: *picks up Kyle and puts him on his back again* Well, then. Let's get going, shall we?

Keele: Why do I have a feeling that he's going to be more useful asleep than awake?

Meredy: Come on, Keele! Let's go!

* * *

Selective Inheritance

Story Location: Chapter 11, after the team finds the picture of Rutee

Farah: So... This is a picture of your mom, Kyle?

Kyle: Yeah, that's definitely her.

Meredy: Kyle does not look like Rutee.

Kyle: Yeah, yeah... I know I don't...

Reid: Then if you didn't get your looks from your mom, what DID you get?

Kyle: Some of her personality.

Keele: Oh, great... Idiocy runs in the family...

Kyle: N-not like that! I mean, we're both determined and devoted...

Reid: A heavy sleeper?

Kyle: Actually, that trait is from my dad... You know, now that I think about it... I don't take after my mom much at all...

Reala: So that would make you a minature version of your father...

Kyle: Pretty much... Eh heh heh...

* * *

Journal of Doom (Death Note parody)

Story Location: Chapter 12, in the library after discovering the journal

Kyle: ...

Reid: Are you writing something in your journal?

Kyle: G-go away! No looking over my shoulder!

Reid: Why not?

Kyle: I'm doing something secretive...

Reid: Oh, I see... *goes to walk away, but quickly snatches the journal from Kyle instead*

Kyle: HEY! Gimme that back!

Reid: There's only a couple of words on this page... "Keele Zeibel - falling bookcase"? Is it some kind of weird poetry?

Kyle: Something like that...

Farah: Keele! Watch out! That bookcase is going to fall on you!

Keele: Hmm? Aah! *braces for impact, but, aside from books falling on top of him, nothing happens*

Reid: D-did you just do that, Kyle?

Kyle: Aagh, dammit! I was lied to! This isn't a Death Note, it's a Near-Miss Note!

Reid: What?

Kyle: Forget it... *closes notebook* Last time I try that... *puts notebook away*

* * *

Suggestive Power (Code Geass parody) (Author's Note: Yes, I'm doing this just because Jun Fukuyama voices both Kyle and Lelouch in Japanese... XD)

Story Location: Can occur anytime when Farah and Kyle are both in the party

Kyle: ...

Farah: Is something wrong, Kyle?

Kyle: (sounding a little different than usual) Farah! Look at me!

Farah: I am... Why? And what's with your voice?

Kyle: Make me a sandwich... Now!

Farah: *crosses arms* Ahem...

Kyle: (sounding normal) Rats, didn't work... Please?

Farah: What didn't work?

Kyle: I guess it's not his voice that can convince people to do anything they want to...

Farah: Whose?

Kyle: This guy I heard of who has these amazing powers of suggestion. People just look at his face and they instantly do whatever he wants them to.

Farah: Huh? What were you doing just now, then?

Kyle: Well, I've been able to imitate his voice perfectly for a long time... I just wanted to see if I can use his suggestion powers...

Farah: Ha ha ha... Keep trying... I can still make you that sandwich, though.

Kyle: Great! Thanks!

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene: **Well, that's all, folks! Some of these are better than others, but I hope the majority made you guys laugh. Skit chapter 2's gonna have a lot more Chat, by the way... (Oh wait, this chapter didn't have Chat in it at all... XD) Also, if you guys have any ideas for more wacky and hilarious skits, I'd like to hear them. ^^ Send me your ideas through a review!


	15. Chapter 13: The Frozen City

**Two Destinies Chapter 13: The Frozen City**

**Author's Note:** So, I'm finally getting the story underway once again. I have a surprise waiting, too. Anyways, time to get this story rolling again. The characters do not belong to me!

* * *

"We'll be arriving in Peruti shortly." Chat's voice echoed through the hallways of the Van Eltia thanks to a loudspeaker. "Prepare to disembark."

"Wow, that was really fast." Reid said. "I just finished eating…"

"Brr…" Meredy said. "It is getting cold in here…" Quickie curled up into a ball on the fluffy purple hair of the Celestian girl.

"Hmm…" Keele said "Meredy's right… The temperature has decreased quite a bit. I wonder why…"

"Why do I have a feeling it has something to do with that ice?" Reid said, looking out a window.

"Ice?" Meredy said. "Peruti is a port town. There should not be any ice in Peruti."

"No, that definitely looks like ice to me…" Reid said. "I mean, what else is white, blocky, and could explain a drop in temperature?"

"You have a point…" Keele said.

"Why is there ice in Peruti?" Meredy asked.

"There's ice in Peruti? Is there not supposed to be?" Kyle said, entering the room. Reala came in behind him.

"Apparently." Keele said. "Anyways, let's get ready to go."

"It's so cold…" Reala said, shivering. Kyle wrapped his arms around Reala.

"Don't worry, I'll keep you warm." He said.

"I'm surprised…" Keele said. "With your belly showing like that, I'm surprised you're not complaining about the cold…"

"I'm trying not to think about it." Reid said. "That usually keeps me going in the cold."

"Not you." Keele said. "But true, you also should put on more clothes, Reid. I was talking to Kyle, though."

"I'm trying to do the same as Reid." Kyle said. "I'm not thinking about the cold. Besides, I also have fire magic that I can use to warm myself up, remember?"

"Oh, right…" Farah said. "That's true."

"Guys! Hold on!" Chat's voice echoed through the Van Eltia once again. "The port is completely frozen over! We're gonna be experiencing a little..." Just then, the entire boat shook furiously. Everybody fell over. "...Turbulence..." The pirate girl finally finished her sentence. Just as everybody recovered, a loud feedback noise caused them to recoil and place their hands over their ears. Soon, the noise subsided. "Sorry about that!" Chat said. "I knocked over the microphone during that first collision... Anyways, we're not done with trudging through the ice yet... So hold on for a little longer!" Just then, the boat began to shake again.

"Ugh, this shaking..." Keele said. "I'm gonna be sick pretty soon..."

"Is this ship strong enough to be doing this kind of ice breaking?" Reid said. "Because it sure didn't look that way from the outside..."

"Well, we seem to be making our way through this quickly..." Farah said. "Looks can be deceiving, I guess..."

"What is with this ice?" Meredy asked. "Why is it so hard?"

"Well..." Keele began. "Hard ice is formed in places of extreme cold over long periods of time... But Meredy, you said that Peruti shouldn't have ice, right? Then how did this ice get to be this hard?" Just then, the shaking started to decrease in magnitude.

"Hey, it seems the ice isn't as hard packed near the shore as it is out at sea." Chat said. "The rest of this ride should be smoother sailing. Be ready to get off."

"Well, you guys, I think we should head for the loading dock now." Farah said. "You heard Chat- we're gonna get off soon."

Within a minute or two, the team had made their way to the loading dock. Not soon after they arrived, the ship came to a complete stop. Within a minute, Chat had also found her way to the loading deck, where she was surprised to see everybody.

"Nobody's staying onboard the ship?" She asked. Everybody nodded. Chat crossed her arms. "Then how are we supposed to ensure that my boat will be here when we return?"

"We?" Reid asked. "Are you coming with us, Chat?" The pirate girl nodded.

"I'm going to observe my new pirate crew." She said. "I just want to make sure that you don't mutiny on me..."

"What about if monsters attack?" Kyle asked. Chat laughed.

"I'm perfectly capable of defending myself from monsters." She said. "Here..." Chat swung the bag she was wearing to the front of her body.

"What's in there?" Reid asked.

"Throwing spheres." Chat answered, pulling one out of her bag. "I can throw these at enemies and they'll take damage. I also have these..." She pulled a red hammer with a yellow handle out of her bag.

"What do those do?" Reala asked.

"This is a Pow Hammer." Chat explained. "When this falls on an enemy's head, they'll get stunned."

"So, what about securing the ship?" Keele asked.

"Well, I think what I can do is try putting the ship into its special 'lockout mode'..." Chat chuckled after saying this.

"What's 'lockout mode'?" Kyle asked. Chat spun around to press a button near the entrance of the ship.

"Basically, my great-grandfather installed it." She said after she finished holding down the button. "You have to give voice identification, or otherwise it rains tons of Pow Hammers onto your head. I still need to add your voices, though." Everybody stared at Chat for a couple seconds while she opened a door on the side of the ship. "Well, you guys coming?" She asked, beckoning them out the door. Everybody rushed outside at that moment.

Snow was lightly falling on the quiet town. Almost nobody was outside due to the weather, and anybody who was wore warm clothes. The adventurers, in their comparatively thin outfits, looked out of place.

"Hey!" An unknown man yelled out. "You guys should head inside! This is no weather to be dressing like that! The hotel here has a fire pit for you to warm up with!"

"We should follow his advice." Keele said. "I'm freezing, and I'm wearing more layers than any of you." The team headed towards the man who had yelled out to them, when, all of a sudden, Reala fell to her knees. Kyle stopped and turned around.

"We need to get you inside at once." He said, extending a hand to Reala. "You can't withstand this cold..." Reala took his hand and rose to her feet, brushing snow off of her dress.

"Yes, you're right." She said. "I'm sorry for being a burden..."

"Hey, it's all right." Kyle said, smiling. "Let's just head for shelter for right now." He took Reala's hand and ran off towards the hotel and quickly entered the building.

* * *

Once inside, the team gathered around a glowing pit and held out their hands to receive warmth. The man from before came inside and coughed.

"So, it seems you made it through the ice..." He said. "But you aren't really well prepared for this strange weather..."

"So, this weather is strange, huh?" Keele said, scratching his chin.

"What could have caused this?" Farah asked.

"This is probably due to the Greater Craymel who lives in the mountain north of here." The man said. "I'm assuming the Craymel is angry for some reason and caused the storm that brought us all this snow."

"A Greater Caramel caused this?" Kyle said, after which he got a jab in the side from Keele's elbow, alerting the boy to his error. This in turn caused Kyle to glare at Keele, who, as a result, gave a glare back to him.

"This must be due to Celsius!" Meredy said.

"So, Celsius is the Greater Craymel of Ice, then?" Farah said. Meredy nodded.

"We must go calm Celsius down!" Meredy responded, moving to attempt to warm up another part of her body.

"Oh, so you're gonna try to tame the Craymel?" The man said, apparently still listening.

"Looks like it." Chat said while removing her hat.

"Not in those clothes, you aren't." The man said, crossing his arms.

"Then what shall we wear?" Reid said. The man laughed.

"I'll arrange for your mountain-climbing gear." He said. "I'm Guston, by the way. What are your names?"

"I'm Keele Zeibel." The blue-haired scholar spoke up. "And there's also Reid Hershel, Farah Oersted, Meredy, Kyle Dunamis, Reala, and Chat." As he said each person's name, they waved to Guston. When Keele finished, Guston chuckled.

"What an interesting group of people..." He said. "More than half of you are Inferian, am I right?"

"That's right." Farah said, cutting Kyle off from saying something he would have probably regretted later if Farah hadn't spoken up.

"So, then that'll be seven outfits, one for each of you?" Guston asked, counting the adventurers.

"Actually, we only need six." Kyle said. Everybody looked at him as if he had three heads.

"You do realize that I AM accompanying you on this mission, right, Kyle?" Chat said, crossing her arms. Kyle nodded.

"Of course I do." He said.

"Then either you can't count or you're just talking nonsense..." Keele said. "Seven, please."

"No, six..." Kyle said, starting to get irritated. "The reason why is because I want Reala to stay behind."

"Huh?" Reala asked. "Why?"

"I'm worried about you, that's why..." He said. "You saw what happened just a few minutes ago, right?" Reala nodded. "Even with warmer clothes on, you still lose body heat faster than any of us do."

"That's right." Farah said, realizing Kyle's concerns and thinking back to the incident where Reala fainted before in Gnome's mine due to lack of heat. "I understand. If you come with us, you'll probably freeze to death much sooner than any of us will."

"And the closer we get to Celsius, the colder it will get." Keele said, now in agreement. "Kyle's right, you should probably stay here."

"V-very well..." Reala said. "But you must come back with Celsius and allow me to receive the Craymel's enchantment."

"Of course." Reid said. "So, no objections, then?"

"Well, I guess I have no choice..." Reala said somberly. "You're all so intent on convincing me to stay..."

"You can stay here while you wait for the others to return." Guston said. "There's no problem in that. At least you'll be able to stay warm here." Reala nodded. "So, six outfits it is, then. You guys follow me to the clothing shop." The adventurers followed Guston out of the hotel, with Reala staying behind. Just before he left, however, Kyle stopped and turned back towards Reala.

"If it wasn't for your condition... I'd love for you to come with us..." He said somewhat regretfully.

"Thank you, Kyle..." She said. "You're always looking out for me. You're right. I only wish that you return safe and sound." The blond haired boy smiled.

"Of course I will." He said. "Goodbye! See you later!" Kyle waved to Reala, who waved back to him, and then left the warm building to head into the cold outdoors.

* * *

"All right." Guston said. "You guys choose whatever outfits suit you. It's on the house."

"Well then..." Keele said. "We should choose clothes that will keep us adequately warm."

"Hmm..." Farah grabbed an outfit off of the rack. "I wonder if this fits... Looks rather cozy..." She headed for the dressing rooms nearby and closed the curtain behind her.

"Meredy likes this!" The purple haired girl said, grabbing an outfit off the rack and rushing into the dressing room and disappearing behind the curtain.

"Hmm... I need to try this on to see if it will be adequately warm enough..." Keele said, examining a coat on the rack. "I'll be right back." He too vanished behind a dressing room curtain, cutting in front of Chat.

"Hey! I was going to use that dressing room, Keele!" She said. "The captain should get first dibs on the last open dressing room!"

"Wait your turn, Chat..." Reid said, sighing. Just then, from behind one of the dressing room curtains came a hand holding a coat out.

"Hey, Reid!" Farah said. "This coat is too big. Mind putting it back and grabbing me something else to try on?" The red haired hunter sighed.

"Meredy's is too small!" Meredy said, protruding her outfit from the fitting room curtain. "Put that back as well, Reid?"

"Why me?" Reid said. "I am not a chore boy..." Regardless, he took the two outfits and returned them to the shelves, grabbing two random outfits off of the shelves and giving them to the girls. Just then, Keele came out of the dressing room to look in the mirror. He was wearing a heavy blue cloak now. After examining himself for a few seconds, he addressed the three waiting customers.

"So..." He said. "How does it look? It sure is sufficiently warm..."

"It matches your hair... Somewhat..." Reid said.

"Wow, you really like covering up your body, doncha Keele?" Kyle taunted. "Body issues, eh?" Keele groaned.

"So much for asking the two idiots..." He muttered. Aloud, he turned to Chat and asked. "What do you think, Chat?"

"Well, it looks pretty good, I guess..." She said. "If I say yes, can I use the dressing room next?"

"Then this it is..." Keele said, ignoring the snickering from Reid and Kyle. "The dressing room's all yours, Chat." Chat ran into the dressing room and pulled the curtain shut. Keele shrugged and then walked over to the cashier. Just then, Meredy came out of the dressing room. She was dressed up like a wooly sheep, with two curly orange horns sticking out from the top of the suit's head.

"Meredy thinks this is cute!" Said the girl in the sheep suit. "Baiba!" At that moment, Kyle jumped backward and ran behind Reid. The red haired hunter looked at the cowering child behind him. Keele was laughing at this scene from nearby.

"What's wrong, Kyle?" Reid asked. "You're shaking like a leaf..."

"T-that c-c-costume..." He stuttered, trying to stop shaking. "I-it's..."

"It's cute, right, Kyle?" Meredy asked. Kyle shook his head violently.

"N-no way!" He said. "I'm..." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "I'm... afraid of sheep..." Kyle looked away from Meredy and Reid. Keele laughed even harder.

"Afraid of sheep?!?" Keele said between two bursts of laughter. "What's there to be afraid of? They don't even eat meat, for Seyfert's sake!"

"There's a long story behind that..." Kyle said. "It goes back to when I was very young, though..."

"Meredy understands." The purple haired girl said. "Meredy will try on something else." Meredy disappeared back into the dressing room. However, her voice returned a couple seconds later. "Meredy needs another outfit to try on, Reid!" Reid sighed and searched the rack for something else for Meredy to wear.

"No... no... NO!" Chat's voice came from her dressing room. "T-there has to be another color of this in my size!"

"What's wrong, Chat?" Keele said. Just then, Chat came out of the dressing room wearing a hot pink parka and looking rather miserable.

"This..." She pointed to the coat she was wearing. "...is the only item in this entire store that fits me... I hate the color pink!"

"If the shoe - or parka - fits, wear it." Reid said. "Besides, you don't look half bad in that." Chat sighed.

"Fine..." She said, putting her hat back on. "Just as long as I don't need to wear this after we get back from the mountain."

"Deal." Reid said, giving Chat a thumbs up. At that moment, Farah stepped out of her dressing room wearing a red, black, and white outfit.

"Gimme your Gald!" She blurted out randomly. "Search Gald!" She chuckled. "That's what it said on the tag, by the way. Anyways, how does it look?"

"Not bad..." Reid said, whistling a little after saying this.

"Looks better than what I'm wearing..." Chat said a bit begrudgingly.

"...You look like my mom..." Kyle said, gawking at Farah. Farah put her hands on her hips, insulted.

"What was that supposed to mean, Kyle?!?" She said. "Don't make me hurt you..."

"No seriously!" Kyle said, putting his hands up in anticipation for an attack from Farah. "My mom used to wear that very same outfit when she was adventuring with my dad and the other people in their group! I mean, you even used one of her catch phrases, so it can't be coincidence!" Farah said nothing for a few seconds, and then started chuckling sheepishly.

"Umm... I'm gonna find something else to wear, then..." She said, going over to a rack and grabbing an outfit. "I'll be back out shortly..." She disappeared back into the dressing room. Reid and Keele stared at Kyle.

"What?" He said. "It's true!" Somewhat embarrassed, he grabbed something off the rack nearby. "I-it looks like it's my turn to try stuff on..." Kyle rushed into the dressing room that Chat had come out of and quickly pulled the curtain into place. Almost as instantly as Kyle disappeared, Meredy reappeared wearing a lavender coat. She spun around once and smiled.

"This coat is cute, too." She said. "Do you guys like it?"

"Meredy, that coat doesn't really look sufficiently warm..." Keele noted.

"Meredy does not get cold that easily." She said. "Meredy will be fine with this. Now it is Reid's turn to try on an outfit." Meredy walked over to where Keele is. Keele blushed as the girl stood right beside him. Taking a cue from Meredy, Chat also moved to where Keele was. Reid shrugged, and then he too disappeared into the dressing room after grabbing an outfit from one of the racks.

* * *

When Reid came out of the dressing room, Farah and Kyle were already out of their dressing rooms, Farah wearing a long red poncho and Kyle wearing a green coat with a white scarf draped over his shoulders.

"Well, that looks good, Reid." Farah said.

"So does your outfit." Reid responded.

"Then we're set." Keele said. The team turned to look at Guston. "Well, it looks like we're all set, so now we're gonna head out for the mountain where the Craymel lives."

"Mt. Celsius lies north of Peruti." Guston said. "Good luck, young adventurers, and safe travels."

"Thank you." Farah said. "We'll be sure to return quickly." To her friends, Farah added. "Okay then, let's go! We're headed north!" The six adventurers left the clothing store and headed outside to brave the cold and head for the mountain.

* * *

The driving snow got heavier and heavier the closer to the mountain the adventurers got.

"Wow, this is getting ridiculous..." Farah said. "I can't even see where I'm going!"

"Are we even heading in the right direction?!?" Chat yelled over the howling of the wind. "What if we're going the wrong way?"

"I think it's safe to assume that we're going the right way, Chat..." Keele said. "The snow is getting stronger and stronger, meaning we're getting closer to the center of the storm."

"Meredy thinks we should call Efreet to warm things up!" Meredy yelled as the wind picked up.

"Great idea!" Keele said, pulling out his Craymel Cage. However, all of a sudden, the wind blew even harder and Keele, not expecting this, not only had to recoil in surprise, but accidently let go of his Craymel Cage, and it fell out of sight.

"Oh, dammit..." Reid said. "This is bad... Now what do we do?"

"I've got an idea..." Kyle said. There was a faint red glow that permiated through the snow drift for a couple seconds. When it faded, Kyle's hand began to glow red as he thrust it into the air. "Burn Strike!" He yelled. Just then, the flames descended around the adventurers, melting some of the snow nearby, which in turn revealed where Keele's Craymel Cage had dropped. It had landed near Chat's feet. However, the raging snow drift was quickly filling in the hole that Kyle's spell had created, and the Craymel Cage was once again beginning to disappear. However, Chat bent over and scooped up the Craymel Cage just before it disappeared under the snow once again.

"Here you go, Keele." Chat said, handing Keele his Craymel Cage back. Keele nodded, and held his cage into the air.

"Come, Efreet!" He called. "Let's warm things up around here!" Just then, a red glow seemed to spread from the Craymel Cage, and, not long later, the temperature of the surrounding air had increased. "Efreet, protect us from the cold!" Nothing visibly changed, but the increased temperature remained the same, and the wind no longer blew snow into the faces of the adventurers.

"Good thinking!" Farah said. "Now, let's find our bearings and head for the mountain."

"Guys... That's a big mountain..." Reid said, pointing in front of him. The others turned to look at what Reid was pointing at, and then turned their heads upwards towards the peak of the mountain.

"Umm..." Chat said. "Then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Everybody nodded.

"Now guys, there's just one thing I have to tell you..." Keele said. "We have to stay relatively close together to stay within the effect of the spell I cast. If you guys get too far away, the power of the snow storm will probably overwhelm you... Got that?" He looked at the two not-so-intelligent members of the party to make sure they understood. Everybody nodded, and, together, they all headed off to start climbing Mt. Celsius.

* * *

Back in Peruti, Reala was sipping a cup of hot chocolate and sitting near the fire pit, trying to keep herself warm. She was trying to get her mind off of her worries for the safety of her friends. However, no matter what she did, her thoughts always returned to their worrisome state. "I hope they come back soon..." She said quietly, staring into her cup of hot chocolate. A person near her shuffled a little bit to get closer to the heat. Another person sneezed.

Just then, the doors to the hotel opened up. Two people walked in. They seemed to be arguing amongst themselves. Reala looked up from her drink to observe these newcomers. Just then, she gasped and dropped her hot chocolate. _What?!?_ She thought._ It can't be! But that appearance is unmistakable... It's..._ Just then, her eyes met those of one of the people who came into the door - the one that she had just so happened to be the person who she thought it was. A dark laugh erupted from the other person as he made his way towards Reala.

"What's this?" He said in his deep voice. "Looks like I've found you..."

"What are you doing here?" Reala said, standing up. The man laughed darkly once again.

"I came here looking for you..." He said. "Not only that, but your little blond haired 'hero', too... Where is he?"

"Why do you want to know?" Reala said. Just then, the approaching man pulled out his weapon and shattered the glowing fireplace, causing some embers to fly all over the floor and others to attach to his weapon. The people gathered around the fire place screamed and fled from the area as small flames started to dance across the wooden floors. Reala, too, gasped at seeing this.

"Don't mess with me, Reala..." The man said, aiming his glowing weapon at Reala. "WHERE IS HE?!?" He slashed at Reala, who screamed and leaped away from the blow, which, thanks to the embers from the fireplace, ignited the chair that she had been sitting on. She unsheathed her staff and aimed it at her assailant, who only chuckled.

"You aren't nearly strong enough to defeat me... So just give up and tell me where he is!" Reala started walking backwards away from the oncoming attacker, but she eventually ran into the wall. A couple seconds later, as the attack was almost on top of her, she darted out from under his grasp and tried to run away from the attacker. He growled loudly and chased after his victim, slashing hotel furniture and people alike who were in his way. Near the door, the other person who had entered the hotel with the attacker was watching this scene and laughing evily, wondering when he should join in on his companion's fun. However, he was currently plotting something evil... Something that could possibly let him and his companion fufill their goals... And it was all thanks to discovering that this girl was here...

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene:** Well, this was an entertaining chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. I know I sure enjoyed writing the scene where everybody's trying on clothes. Just so you know, the whole sheep phobia thing is an inside joke. If you don't get it, don't worry about it. I won't bring it up again. And trouble's brewing once again... This probably isn't gonna end well... Anyways, look for the next chapter!


	16. Chapter 14: Climbing Celsius' Cliff

**Two Destinies Chapter 14: Climbing Celsius' Cliff**

**Author's Preface: **This is gonna probably be my last chapter up before school begins. I might put this project on hold soon. Especially when I hit the end of Part 1, which is gonna be pretty soon. I predict only two more chapters after this one until the end of the part. Unfortunately, this chapter's kinda short... So, enjoy this while chapters are still coming out! :P Write reviews!

* * *

"Well, let's get going." Farah said. "I mean, we can't waste time here."

"Yeah." Keele said. "The longer we dawdle, the heavier the snow storms are going to get. I don't see this storm letting up any time soon."

"Not only that…" Kyle said. "But Reala's waiting for us back in Peruti. We shouldn't keep her waiting for too long."

"Right." Farah said. "So, what are we waiting for?" The team looked through the raging wind towards the top of the mountain, and then started forward to ascend the cold peak. Due to the snow raging all around them, visibility was quite limited, but thanks to Keele's spell, the team was able to travel somewhat comfortably despite the fact that all six of them had to stay somewhat close together.

Just then, a chilly gust of wind penetrated the barrier from behind the adventurers and caused them all to recoil from the cold. When the barrier kicked in again, everybody straightened up. That's when Chat realized that her hat had blown off in the wind.

"W-where's my hat?!?" She yelled. "I can't lose that hat! That hat belonged to my great grandfather! It's a family heirloom!"

"Wow, so that hat's older than you are?" Reid said. This caused Chat to take a Pow Hammer out of her bag and used it to whack him, who recoiled in pain, despite his hat taking most of the blow.

"That's besides the point!" Chat yelled. "Find my hat!" The team started looking around for the missing hat, when, all of a sudden…

"Look!" Kyle yelled, pointing towards the top of a bunch of rocks that were piled up like stairs. "There it is!" Sure enough, there was Chat's hat, stuck on a snowy branch of a tree.

"Let's go get it!" Meredy said. The team started up the natural stairs for the blown-away hat, Chat leading the way. About halfway up the stairs, however, Chat screamed and sank down into the snow.

"Somebody help your captain out of this hole!" She yelled. "My foot went through the rocks!" Farah and Meredy gathered around Chat to start pulling her out of the hole, while Reid ran up to the tree where the hat was and grabbed it just before it had freed itself to blow away. Keele stood somewhere between Chat and Reid in order to make sure everybody stayed within the protection of his spell. Hat in his possession, Reid leaped down the snowy stairs to where the rest of the team was and got a strange glare from Keele. Reid ignored him as he put the hat back on Chat's head.

"Okay, Chat. We almost have you out of there." Farah said. Just then, there was the sound of something growling nearby. The two swordsmen instantly unsheathed their swords.

"Oh, great…" Chat said, still in the hole. "First mission with you guys and I'm already in danger…"

"Don't worry, Chat…" Reid said. "Kyle and I can take care of this." Reid fired a Demon Fang in a random direction and Kyle sent an Azure Edge in another direction. Just then, the growling got louder.

"I'll help you guys." Keele said, taking out his staff. "It sounds like there's more than one of whatever's making that noise…" All of a sudden, there was a bone-chilling howl and, seemingly out of the blue, something knocked into Kyle, sending him down into the snow and down a couple of the stone steps. Reid turned around after seeing his friend getting attacked and launched another Demon Fang. However, whatever had knocked Kyle over had moved, and the Demon Fang hit Kyle by accident.

"Ow!" The fair haired boy said as he sat up and brushed the snow off his coat and threw the scarf back over his shoulder. He rubbed his head. "Watch where you're aiming that Demon Fang, Reid!"

"Sorry…" Reid said, helping Kyle to his feet. Seconds after Kyle was standing again, Reid was knocked face-first into the snow. Kyle had to jump backward to avoid getting knocked over like a domino. The attacker had finally made themselves known. It was a wolf with blue fur, and it stood on top of Reid, growling at Kyle. It then turned its head towards Chat.

"Flame Drive!" Kyle's spell rammed into the side of the wolf, which focused its attention once more on the boy in the green coat. The wolf lunged once more at Kyle, who deflected the attack with a sword slash. However, a second wolf leaped over the other battlers and went to attack Chat, who was still stuck in the hole.

"Guys!" Chat yelled as the wolf started to sniff her. Farah punched the wolf in the nose, temporarily disorienting it. It shook its head in surprise and proceeded to bite Farah's poncho in an attempt to rip it off. However, when Chat finally removed her foot from its 'trap', the rest of the team was able to put their full attention into fighting. Meredy and Keele proceeded to begin casting spells while Farah attacked the wolf from a close proximity (as soon as the wolf had let go of her poncho) and Chat attacked from a distance with her throwing spheres and Pow Hammers. Higher up on the steps, Reid and Kyle were still fighting with the first wolf, hammering the enemy with relentless sword attacks. It wasn't long before the battle was resolved, with both wolves defeated. After a momentary recovery, the team regrouped and proceeded with trying to get to the top of the mountain.

* * *

Soon, the team came across a large red icicle sticking up and blocking the route to the other side of the mountain. Regardless of which spells Keele and Kyle cast on the icicle, it would not melt. The team wondered how they were going to get past this temporary setback.

"I think our best bet right now is to look for something that will help us get by…" Farah suggested.

"But what should we look for, Farah?" Meredy asked.

"Honestly, I don't know…" Farah said, shrugging. "But there's gotta be SOMETHING that can melt this icicle…"

"But neither Keele's nor Kyle's magic could melt it." Chat said.

"Maybe we can use our spells together, Keele?" Kyle asked, looking at the blue haired mage.

"Nah, if our spells alone couldn't melt it, what effect would more spells have?" Keele said.

"We need something other than magic to melt this…" Reid said. "But what's stronger than their magic?"

"Perhaps if we had something to amplify the effects of our magic…" Keele said, scratching his chin as he usually did when he was analyzing the situation. "…But what?"

"I think we should try looking around for something that can be used to get by this icicle." Farah said. Having no other choice, the others agreed and they went to look for another route.

* * *

Eventually, the team found themselves at the bottom of a very steep slope on the other side of the mountain. The team stopped because they were surprised by the sudden change in slope. It seemed like the mountain wasn't supposed to be climbed much farther from this point.

"We still haven't found anything that can help us get past the red icicle…" Reid said. "Let's see just how far we can go and see if anything is up here that can help us with getting rid of our obstacle, I guess." The team agreed and began to slowly ascend up the steep climb.

About halfway up the hill, there was a small rumbling sound. Everybody stopped. "W-what was that?" Chat asked. "I-I hope that doesn't mean an avalanche is about to occur…"

"Relax." Keele said. "It just means that we are too clumped together. The cliff can't handle a huge amount of weight right in the middle of it. We just need to redistribute our group's weight, that's all."

"So, what's the plan, Keele?" Farah asked. Keele scratched his chin.

"I'm not positive, but I think putting our lightest two party members, Meredy and Chat, at the edges of the formation would be best. The rest of us should just try to stay as far apart as possible to spread out the weight."

"Whatever…" Reid said. "Let's go." The team spread out more, with Chat and Meredy on the sides of the formation, and they continued to walk. However, not much later, there was a scream from Meredy. The rest of the team went to try to see what happened, but the ground began to shake a little. Nobody dared move, thinking they might start an avalanche. However, Meredy continued to scream, so Keele finally decided that he would save Meredy, being the closest to where she was, and ran over to where she had been to find her hanging onto a ledge for her life.

"Meredy!" Keele as he grabbed her hands. "What happened?!?"

"Cliff collapsed under Meredy!" She said. "Meredy needs help! Get Reid or Farah!"

"I can do this!" Keele said, trying to tug on Meredy to bring her back to safety.

"Keele is not strong enough to help Meredy!" Meredy said.

"Yes, I am!" Keele said, continuing to struggle to save Meredy.

"Wow…" Reid said. "He's so determined to help Meredy… It's like he… likes her…"

"You're an idiot, Reid!" Keele yelled as he tried one final time to pull Meredy back up. This time, however, he succeeded. Keele fell backwards and Meredy fell on top of him.

"Hey, he did it!" Kyle said, somewhat surprised that Keele was able to muster up enough strength to save Meredy.

"Are you okay, Keele?" Farah said. Just then, Meredy opened her eyes.

"Keele saved Meredy!" She said. "Thank you, Keele!" Just then, she jumped back onto Keele, who grunted from her weight landing on top of him. Meredy then proceeded to give Keele a big hug. Keele's face changed to the color of Reid's hair, but he returned Meredy's hug, nonetheless. The other two guys started to snicker. Keele shot them a dirty glance, still blushing.

"At least I'm getting a hug from a girl, Reid…" Keele said. This comment caused Reid to stop chuckling and he stared at Farah. Both of their faces turned red. "And Kyle, you don't see me laughing at you when you and Reala hug…" Kyle stopped snickering. Keele smiled. He had finally shut both Reid and Kyle up when they were teasing him for once. Keele and Meredy finished their hug and got up, brushing the snow off of their outfits. The team then continued to go up the slope.

* * *

At the top of the slope, there was a small container of a liquid sitting on a ledge. Chat picked up the container and examined it.

"It says 'Toto Oil' on it." She said as she showed it to the rest of the group. Meredy smiled.

"Baiba!" She said. "Toto Oil is famous in Celestia as a fuel for fire!"

"Great!" Reid said. "Then you think we can use this to melt that red icicle?"

"Yep!" Meredy said. "This as well as Keele or Kyle's magic will surely melt the icicle!"

"Then let's head back to get by the obstacle." Farah said. Everybody started to walk back down the hill, which was a much easier task than going up the hill, when, all of a sudden, there was another rumble, but much louder this time.

"Uh oh…" Reid said. "That doesn't sound good."

"Guys! Run!" Kyle said. "There's an avalanche coming this way!" Everybody took a small glance back at the top of the mountain, and, sure enough, a large amount of snow was coming rumbling down towards the six of them. They all started to dash down the hill to get away from the snow. However, Keele tripped over his long cloak and started somersaulting down the hill. Soon, he slammed into the others and they all started rolling down the hill. At the bottom of the hill, everybody lay sprawled out and dazed. Not soon after, the snow swallowed up the six adventurers. However, the avalanche was not very big, and only a few inches of snow piled on top of everybody.

The first person to appear above the snow was Reid. He looked around for any of his friends, but didn't see any. "Aah!" He said. "Did everybody get buried by the snow?!? Dammit, Keele... This is all your..."

A blue haired head appeared above the snow. "Hey, don't go pointing blame at me..." Keele said, shaking out his head and standing up. "It's these stupid robes... They're just way too long..."

The purple haired head appeared next. "Meredy is okay!" She said, waving at Keele. Reid stood up and started walking over towards Keele. Just then, as he was crunching through the snow, he stepped on something that didn't feel like snow under his shoes. There was a muffled squeak from beneath the snow, and Chat sat up, causing Reid to leap off of her in surprise.

"Reid!" She yelled. "You just stepped on me! Now, where the heck is... Ah!" Just then, Chat's arm appeared out of the snow holding her hat and, after shaking snow out of it, she put the hat back on her head.

Kyle appeared next. His normally spiky hair was covered with so much snow that it lay flat against his head, even after shaking his head out. He stood up and looked around. "Well, that was not what I was expecting..." He said. "Hey, where's Farah?" As if his words were a cue, Farah reappeared.

"Ugh..." She said. "Let's not do that again..." Farah shook out her poncho. Just then, Keele's face turned pale as he looked at his Craymel Cage.

"Guys!" He said. "This is bad! Efreet's spell has worn off!"

"Well, at least it's not snowing right now..." Reid said, holding out his hand to see if any snow would fall onto it. None did.

"We should hurry to find Celsius before it snows again!" Meredy said, starting to skip away.

"Meredy's right." Keele said. "Let's hurry and find that red icicle again." The rest of the team followed behind Meredy as they walked away from the scene of the avalanche.

* * *

It wasn't long before the team had rediscovered the red icicle. Once there, Keele examined the icicle again. "Now..." He said. "I think the best bet for getting past this thing is to slather the whole thing with the Toto Oil."

"The whole thing?" Reid said. "What about getting to the other side of this gorge, Keele?" He pointed to the deep ravine that lay below. "It's too far to jump across, but if we melt just the bottom of the icicle, we can use it as a bridge."

"I-I don't really think this icicle would make a very good bridge..." Keele said, gulping as he looked down into the ravine.

"Why not?" Farah said. "If magic alone can't even melt it, it's gotta be sturdy."

"That's not what I'm worried about..." Keele said. "I'm more worried about the width of the icicle and its shape..."

"We can cross one person at a time!" Meredy said.

"Still... What if it rolls when somebody gets on it?" Keele said.

"Keele..." Kyle drove his arm onto Keele's shoulder, nearly knocking him down. "You need to stop worrying. I mean, has worrying ever improved the situation?"

"Well, no..." Keele said, rubbing his sore shoulder.

"Ready!" Chat said, giving a thumbs up. The container of Toto Oil lay near her legs. She picked up the container and tossed it into the ravine. "Don't worry, it's empty." She said after Farah and Reid gave her a weird look.

"Looks like we didn't have enough oil to cover the whole icicle anyways..." Farah said, shrugging. "Oh, well..." She turned to look at the two magic users. "Keele? Kyle? We're ready."

"Okay then!" Kyle said. "Do you wanna do it or should I, Keele?"

"Whatever..." Keele said, looking into the ravine again. Kyle shrugged, and then his Lens, followed by his hand, began to glow red.

"Flame Drive!" Three fireballs came out of his hand and, sure enough, ignited the Toto Oil. The oil burned fiercely, and the icicle began to melt.

"It's working!" Meredy said, dancing around. Soon, the icicle had melted to a point where it fell over, bridging the gap over the ravine. Everybody smiled.

"Well, let's go." Reid said, crossing the icicle first. After him, Farah, Kyle, Chat, and Meredy crossed. Keele was still a little nervous about crossing.

"W-what if I fall?" He said.

"Keele, don't look down." Farah said. "Just look ahead and you'll be fine. Now, come on! We need your fire magic!"

"Ugh..." Keele said. Taking Farah's advice, he refused to look down into the ravine as he crossed the icicle. However, at the last second, he looked down. He yelped and jumped off the icicle and onto the other side of the ravine where his companions were.

"Well, at least he's over here..." Reid said, sighing. "Let's go find Celsius." He and the rest of the team headed off for the Greater Craymel. Small snowflakes were floating down upon the heroes as they walked forward into the unknown.

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene: **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D Now, time for a funny story regarding this: While writing this chapter on Word, I discovered that there is another type of "correction" besides the red squiggly underline (misspellings) and the green squiggly underline (grammar errors). I discovered the purple dot underline when I wrote "Flame Drive"! XD Apparently, Word thinks Flame Drive is somebody's street address, not Kyle's spell… LOL! Also, I found another reason to hate the English language: Disorienting vs. disorientating… They're both considered "correct"… I went with "disorienting" after asking more than 3 people, my younger (and by younger, I mean only 11 months younger) brother included… XD So, the team gets to fight Celsius in the next chapter at last! Also, I'm gonna address what happened at the end of the last chapter in my next chapter, so keep your eyes open! Thanks for reading!


	17. Chapter 15: Craymels and Catastrophes

**Two Destinies Chapter 15: Craymels and Catastrophes**

**Author's Preface:** Well, school has officially resumed, and my schedule is so jam-packed full, I don't have much time to write anymore! DX Not only that, but I have a job now, which means I'll have even LESS time to write my story. Once this and the next chapter are completed, I'm afraid I'm gonna need to go on a LONG writing hiatus until my schedule becomes less hectic (AKA next semester – I have more than one free period then). So, basically, after Chapter 16, there aren't gonna be any more updates until near my birthday in late January, maybe even February. I apologize so much, so please enjoy this while I still have a chance to write.

* * *

The snow-laden winds chilled the six adventurers to the bone. The weather had picked up so much and so quickly that Keele'd had no time to react and put up a new weather barrier. So now all six of the adventurers were cold, nearly blinded by the wind, and quite miserable.

"If we don't find Celsius very soon, I think I'm gonna freeze to death…" Reid said, shivering and trying to huddle up to his friends.

"I really don't think Celsius is waiting much farther beyond this point…" Farah said. "Don't worry, we'll find the Craymel soon."

"I think our search is already over…" Keele said. He lifted a finger up and forward into the snowy abyss. "Look!" Sure enough, there was what looked like a woman with light blue skin and darker blue hair standing with her arms crossed and looking away from the six travelers.

"So…" Chat said. "That's Celsius?" Meredy ran towards the mysterious woman a few steps, and then turned around to look at her companions.

"That must the Craymel!" She said, seemingly having shaken off any signs of coldness that she had had previously. "We are at the top, now, so there is nowhere else Celsius could be!"

"So, what are we waiting for?" Kyle said, pulling out his sword. "Let's go talk that Caramel into stopping the storm over Peruti!" Keele glared at the fair-haired boy just as he usually did when Kyle mispronounced the word "Craymel". However, before Keele could get any scolding words out, the rest of the team was hurrying towards the mysterious blue woman.

When the travelers had gotten within a few yards of the woman, a chilly voice spoke up. "Why have you come?" It said, obviously unamused.

"Are you Celsius?" Meredy said. The blue woman turned around, arms still crossed.

"I am…" She said with the same chilly voice. "Now, answer my question."

"We came to ask you to stop the snow storm over Peruti." Reid said. "So, will you please stop it?" Celsius scoffed.

"Why should I give into the requests of humans like you?" She said, still unamused. "You lack the power to defeat me."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that before you even fight us…" Kyle said, pointing his sword at the Craymel. "We're stronger than we look!" Just then, a large icicle flew through the air and impaled Kyle's scarf, and, since the icicle didn't slow down even with an extra hundred or so pounds attached to it, it dragged the helpless boy across the snow until the icicle skewered itself into another larger icicle. Kyle, still somewhat dazed from what just happened, used his Flame Drive spell to melt the icicle that held his scarf captive and stood back up again, a scowl now highlighting his face. The other adventurers looked at the fair-haired boy, and then back towards Celsius. The Craymel was smirking a little.

"Hmm, so you aren't completely helpless…" She said. "Perhaps I may get a good battle out of you humans…" Just then, Celsius uncrossed her arms and put up her fists. The adventurers took out their weapons and the battle began. Celsius quickly began the charge towards her opponents. Reid tried to counterattack her fists, but instead missed completely when the Craymel zipped around behind him to dodge his attack. Now wide open, Reid got a fist to the back and a face full of snow. However, Farah managed to punch Celsius in the side while she was attacking Reid. The Craymel jumped back away from the adventurers.

"Well, I'm impressed." She said. "You humans are actually able to match wits with me… I never expected to take a hit from you…" Just then, a magic circle appeared from underneath the Craymel as she held her hands out in front of her to begin casting magic.

"Not so fast!" Keele yelled as he threw his hand up into the air, his staff glowing red. "Take this! Eruption!" A small pit appeared under Celsius, who was wondering what was going on for half a second. Just then, it opened up, and magma flew into the air, engulfing the Craymel.

"So, you have fire magic, huh?" She said, still looking energetic enough to continue the fight. "Well, take this! Freeze Lancer!" Celsius thrust her hands towards her opponents, and more icicles zoomed out from them. Everybody moved to get away from the oncoming attack, and then moved forward to try and catch Celsius. The speedy Craymel phased through the snow and reappeared unharmed in a different spot, preparing to cast her magic once again. This time, however, she was too quick with the casting, and was done preparing the spell before could interrupt the magic. "Time for you to freeze!" The Craymel yelled. "Blizzard!" The already blustery winds grew colder and harsher, threatening to knock everybody off their feet.

"Grr…" Reid said. "She's one tough opponent…" Farah nodded in agreement.

"Perhaps it's because we're fighting in her element…" Keele said, trying to steady himself after recovering from Celsius' spell. "…But what if I changed that?"

"You cannot defeat me!" Celsius chuckled. "You will all freeze solid! Freeze Lancer!" Once again, the party dodged the spell.

"Hmm…" Keele said, examining the Craymel. "What if…"

"Keele!" Meredy said, snapping the blue-haired scholar out of his thoughts. Keele jumped back a little bit. Meredy was staring at him intensely.

"What do you want, Meredy?" Keele said, a little unnerved by Meredy's stare.

"Keele is a Craymel Mage!" The smaller girl reminded him. "Keele is supposed to use Craymel Artes to fight! Keele has Efreet! Efreet can help us win against Celsius!" Keele nodded.

"Right…" He said, about to use another fire spell on Celsius. Meredy smiled.

"Good." She said. "Now, Keele fight!" Just then, an icicle streaked by them, and another almost just as quickly nailed Meredy right in her side. Keele gasped as Meredy was sent backwards and landed side-first into the snow, unmoving.

"Meredy!" Keele yelled. There was no response from Meredy. Keele ran over to where Meredy was and saw that her dark skin looked rather pale. Keele knelt down over Meredy and checked her body. She was still alive, but was frozen in place. At this point, Keele stood up again.

"Keele, are you going to stand there all day?" Reid said, swiping wildly at Celsius. "You've gotta help… Aah!" Keele's head spun around to see Reid fall onto his back, and he too did not move.

"Heh heh heh… Two down, four to go…" Celsius chuckled, eyeing the frozen Meredy and Reid.

"You're not going to win that easily!" Chat said while pulling out a couple of Pow Hammers from her bag to throw at Celsius. Each one missed its target, but just barely. A realization hit Keele.

"Celsius is an Ice Craymel…" He said to himself. "Perhaps she can blend with the surrounding Ice Craymels, which is why our attacks are nearly worthless…" Keele twirled his staff around, nearly taking off his nose in the process, but was ready to cast a spell. "Okay, Efreet…" He said. "Let's warm things up around here! The less Ice Craymels that can thrive in these conditions, the better chance we have of winning this battle!" He threw his hand up into the air. The red gem in his staff glowed a bright red color and the air around him was instantly filling up with Fire Craymels, causing the temperature to increase.

"What's going on here?!?" Celsius said, looking at Keele. "How dare you! Freeze Lancer!" More icicles launched themselves at the somewhat oblivious Keele. The Craymel Mage was bound to get hit…

But a small green blur found its way in between Celsius and Keele. The icicles were slashed in half by a sword that glowed brightly with fire around it. That sword was Kyle's. He had used one of his Artes, Volcanic Saber (A/N: This is Bakuenrenshou in Japanese), to slice through the ice spell. The temperature continued to rise.

"You little pest…" Celsius growled. "Time for you to sleep in the snow!" She dashed forward towards Kyle, who stood his ground. Just then, there was the somewhat comical sound of a red hammer falling onto Celsius' head. The dazed Craymel looked around for some sign of what had caused her to get hit on the head. The off-guard Craymel was an easy hit for Farah, who had jumped into the sky and kicked Celsius with a fire-laden shoe. Celsius fell down into the snow.

"Take that." Farah said, hands placed contently on her hips. "Ready to give up?"

"I'm not close to calling it quits!" She said, still sounding strong. The Craymel got up again, and the four remaining adventurers prepared themselves for another round of this crazy fight.

"We need a strategy…" Keele said quietly enough so that his companions could hear, but not Celsius. "Without Reid and Meredy, we're left with one close range attacker, one close range attacker capable of magic, one long-distance fighter, and one mage."

"That's obvious!" Kyle said, his voice tone being somewhat louder than the one Keele had just used. He was almost instantaneously met with angry shushing and a glare from Keele.

"Hey, Chat…" Farah cast a glance over at the Van Eltia's captain. "Is there anything other than throwing spheres and Pow Hammers in your bag?"

"Sorry…" Chat said. "I'm still looking for my other special hammers." Farah shrugged.

Just then, a voice came from behind them saying "Are we plotting my demise over here?" Farah and Chat jumped around in surprise and there was Celsius, chuckling at the two girls.

Somewhat shaken still, Farah tried to attack the Craymel again. "Beast!" She yelled. A large blue projectile that looked somewhat like a bear's head (A/N: Yes, I know that's the Symphonia description of the move, don't sue me…) came out of Farah's hands. However, Celsius cleanly jumped around to avoid the projectile.

"Hmph…" Celsius scoffed. "What a pathetic version of this… Beast!" Celsius too caused a bear-shaped projectile to appear, but hers was larger than Farah's, and the martial artist fell over after being hit. Chat was nearby, and she pulled out a throwing sphere to help defend herself, but an idea popped into her head when she looked at it. Chat ran backward a bit while Celsius was busy trying to deal with Farah. When she had gotten a ways away, Chat yelled out at the top of her lungs.

"HEY!" She said. The Craymel looked around at Chat. "Take this! Pow Hammer!" Chat threw another Pow Hammer at Celsius's head, which it bounced off of with a hilarious noise. The Craymel rubbed her head and glared at Chat.

"So, you're the one responsible for the hammers…" She said. "It's time for you to feel my fists!" Celsius began to run towards Chat, who stood her ground and smiled. In an instant, Chat flung the throwing sphere that she had pulled out earlier low to the ground so it rolled, and Celsius just happened to trip over the sphere and land face first in the snow.

"Here's where I take over!" Keele said, pointing his staff at Celsius. "Eruption!" Once again, a pit of fire opened up under Celsius, who was in prime position to be hit by the spell. She had no time to react before her underside was scorched by the spell.

"Rrrgh…" She said, staggering to her feet. "That one really hurt…" She held out one hand toward Keele.

"You're not going to give up yet?!?" Keele said, rather surprised. Celsius chuckled, and then fell down face first into the snow. The four remaining travelers ran over to the injured Craymel to see if she was okay.

"She overdid it…" Farah said, sighing. "But just how can I heal a Craymel?"

"Oh, no…" Keele said, flipping the Craymel onto her back. Her blue skin wasn't its original hue anymore, and now had an unnatural tan where she had been hit. "I didn't help matters by going rather overboard myself…" Just then, Keele's Craymel Cage glowed red, and Efreet himself appeared before the party. His appearance caused the almost instantaneous melting of Reid and Meredy, who slowly woke up, as well as stabilized the weather. Snow was lightly falling in place of the heavy blizzard winds from earlier. The Fire Craymel hovered over to where the Ice Craymel lay motionless.

"Well now…" He said. "Didn't think you were capable of getting a tan, Celsius…" The adventurers were confused. The Craymel spoke like he was about to have just another average conversation with Celsius. The Fire Craymel touched Celsius on her chest, and her burn injuries faded. Celsius opened her eyes and sat up.

"So…" Celsius said quietly and coldly to Efreet. "You let these humans use your powers… Why?"

"I was kinda forced into it…" Efreet said. "They wanted a pact with me, and then they went and beat me up with their water magic…"

"A pact?" The Ice Craymel said, standing up.

"Yeah…" Efreet said, crossing his two bulky arms. "And now YOU owe them a pact, too. I mean, they did knock you out, so you can't say they didn't win…" Celsius groaned.

"Ugh, I never said I'd give these humans such a pact…" She turned away from Efreet.

"Said or not, you were bested by the humans, so you owe them a pact. 'Sides, these humans are going to use the powers of the Craymels to help stop the Grand Fall…" Celsius turned around quickly towards Efreet again.

"The Grand Fall, you say?!?" She said, somewhat taken aback. And then, she chuckled. "Heh, I guess you have a point, Efreet…" She turned to face the adventurers, all six regathered. "Very well, you have defeated me, so I shall accompany you on your quest to stop this cataclysmic event. I shall go into a Craymel Cage now…"

"Go into Meredy's!" The purple-haired Celestian chirped while pulling out her cage. Within a few seconds, the stubborn Greater Craymel disappeared with a flash of light blue light into Meredy's Craymel Cage. Meredy once again began to dance around.

"Meredy…" Reid said, chuckling. "You sure get excited about obtaining Craymels, don't you?" Meredy nodded.

"Keele and Meredy need to Fringe Craymels!" She said. Keele shrugged, and, after a minute or two, he completed the Fringing process with Meredy.

"We're done here." Farah said. "The weather's gotten calmer. Let's head back to Peruti and see if everything's all right there." Kyle hit his head with one of his hands.

"That's right!" He exclaimed. "I nearly forgot! Reala's waiting for us! Now, let's hurry back!" The team hurried back down the mountain, eager to get out of the chilly weather and hopefully be able to warm up once they got back to civilization.

At the bottom of the cliff, the team was able to see that most of the snow that had coated the ground when the team was making their way to the mountain was now gone. It seemed somewhat strange to the travelers that the snow had melted away so quickly, but they were all quite relieved to finally be able to see grass again.

Just then, in the distance, there was the figure of a person coming towards the heroes. It wasn't long before the team realized that the person coming towards them was Guston.

"I wonder why he came all the way out here…" Reid pondered as the Celestian man approached.

"Hello, Guston!" Meredy said, cheerful as ever. Guston, on the other hand, didn't seem as thrilled to see the adventurers as Meredy was.

"I'm glad I found you guys…" Guston said, though his voice didn't sound very glad. "While on my way here, the snow vanished, and I knew you had succeeded in convincing Celsius into stopping the storm."

"Wait, so that means you had set out for Mt. Celsius while the snow storm was still in effect, right?" Keele asked. His question got ignored.

"You have all proved yourself worthy." Guston said, walking with the team back towards Peruti. "And that's why I ask you all to come join Shileska."

"What's… Shileska?" Reid asked, taking off his hat. Guston chuckled.

"Shileska is an underground group dedicated on taking Balir out of power." Meredy gasped when she heard this.

"Baiba!" She exclaimed. "We are trying to stop Balir's Grand Fall! Shileska can help us!"

"Wait." Keele said. "So Shileska is willing to open its doors to kids like us?"

"As long as you are willing and able to help, it doesn't matter what age you guys are." Guston said. "Now, will you consider my offer?"

"Galenos asked us to find new allies." Meredy said. "Meredy thinks Shileska will be able to help! Meredy will join!"

"Anything to stop the Grand Fall." Farah said. Reid nodded in agreement.

"Brilliant!" Guston said, his mood having improved. "Our base is in Tinnsia, a city that is nearby. Now, to be able to join Shileska, you'll need proof that you'll be able to be trusted. Which is why I'll give you this as proof of your trustworthiness." He pulled out a small heart-shaped badge with an enameled cat-like animal on it.

"A badge?" Kyle said, staring at the cat on the badge for a couple seconds.

"This is a Miacis Badge." Guston said as Reid took the badge from Guston. "The leader of Shileska is obsessed with the animal on this emblem, which is a Miacis."

"Meredy knows about Miacis!" The purple-haired girl jumped up and down. "Miacis are cute!" Just then, there was a noise from Meredy's head. Quickie had scoffed in jealousy towards what Meredy had just said. Meredy removed the blue squirrel-rabbit from her head to look at it. "…But Quickie is cuter!" Quickie chirped happily, satisfied with Meredy's correction.

Somewhat changing the subject, Chat spoke up. "Hey guys, what's that?" She pointed a finger out in front of her.

"I think it's Peruti, Chat..." Kyle said, looking in the direction that Chat had pointed out. Chat groaned.

"I know that much..." She said. "But what about THAT?!?" She now pointed forward and more obviously toward grey smoke that was rising through the air.

"Smoke?" Farah said. "But since the snow is gone, shouldn't there not be a need for fireplaces to be burning anymore?"

"That's not fireplace smoke..." Keele noted. "It's too dark... Something bad must have happened."

"Uh, oh..." Meredy said. "Meredy hopes nobody has gotten hurt!"

"How quickly circumstances can change..." Guston said quietly to himself. "I certainly don't remember any such commotion when I left Peruti..." He ran along behind the six adventurers.

* * *

It wasn't long before they had returned to the now snowless Peruti. And it didn't take much longer after that to figure out the cause of the rising pillar of grey smoke.

"The hotel!" Meredy said. "The hotel is on fire!" The others in her group were too stunned to speak for a couple of seconds, when, all of a sudden, there was a gasp from Kyle.

"Reala!" He said. "I need to find Reala! I need to know if she got out of the burning building okay or not!" Before anybody could do anything to stop him, Kyle merged in with the crowd of people who were watching the building and soon disappeared.

"I hope she's okay..." Farah said. "That's the last thing we need - one of our party members gone..."

"Come on! Let's go help Kyle find Reala!" Reid said, starting to move towards the crowd of people. The others followed closely behind. It was easy to find Kyle's bright blond hair and light skin amongst the Celestians who were watching the fire, so the others quickly reunited with the frantic child and resumed their search together.

"Reala!" Kyle yelled. "Reala, where are you?!?" Just then, an unfamiliar voice called out in response.

"You there! Kid with the pale skin and yellow hair!" Kyle spun around upon hearing his description. There was a man standing in front of the burning hotel wearing what looked like some kind of weird business suit.

"Yes?" Kyle said once he was standing in front of the man. The other adventurers stood around behind.

"You're looking from somebody, correct?" Kyle nodded. The man scratched his chin. "Well, there was one individual who was removed from the premises by two other people, and it had seemed that she didn't want to go with them..."

"D-did the person who was removed have a pale skin, dark brown hair, and a frilly pink dress?" Kyle asked, a little more tense.

"I believe she did..." The man said after looking back at the blaze and then up towards the grey sky. "And I'm sure you would like to have a description of the captors, am I right?"

"Yes, we would." Keele said for Kyle, whose face made it obvious to tell what he was thinking of.

"Well, there were two men." The man said. "The first one had silver hair, a very visible Elara, and wore a purple cloak... Oh, and he had this very strange evil cackle..."

"Hyades..." Meredy said quietly, identifying the description, which was obvious with the addition of the description of his cackle.

"And the other one..." The man said. "He was... somewhat stranger..." Reid scoffed. Who could possibly be weirder than Hyades, the man with the freaky laugh? "The second guy was much larger, and he had dark skin, but his Elara couldn't be seen anywhere upon his forehead. I wonder if it was hiding under his wavy blue hair..."

"Wait, blue hair and dark skin?!?" Kyle said, somewhat surprised. "Tell me, did said weirdo have purple eyes and a really scary look permanently plastered to his face? Like this?" Kyle tried to make a scary face, but failed to do so.

"Yeah, I do believe he did!" The man said, a little surprised that this pale boy who was probably Inferian would possibly be able to know a Celestian like the one he had just described. "And he had this giant axe, too! Why do you ask?" A look of terrorized surprise quickly transmogrified Kyle's face.

"G-giant axe?" Kyle said quietly, the pupils in his eyes having constricted to a very small size in shock. "It can't be... But... And how did..."

"Kyle, are you okay?" Reid said, swiping his hand in front of the younger swordsman's face. Seconds later, Kyle had pretty much almost knocked over the man who had told them this information and demanded.

"Where are they?!?" This was the mantra of the next flurry of questions to bombard the guy. "Did you see them go?!? Did you find a clue as to where they might be headed?!?" Kyle's voice was punctuated every couple of words with a gasp, since he had quickly run out of breath in his pure terror.

"What's gotten into him?" Chat said, crossing her arms.

"He obviously knows whomever the other guy besides Hyades is..." Farah said. "And it's not making him very happy..."

"Barbatos..." Kyle said quietly, not facing his friends. "That's the name of the other guy involved... He's from my world..." Just then, there was a soft tap at one of Reid's shoes. The red haired hunter looked down at his foot and saw a small gray sphere sitting there. Reid picked it up to examine, and after touching the object in one spot, the gray dirt that had coated the sphere in that spot clung to Reid's finger, revealing something purple underneath. Meredy took a look at the strange object.

"It's covered with mud!" Meredy said. "We have to wash it off! Splash!" Before Reid could stop the eager girl from using her spell, the hunter was soaked through his extra layers of winter clothes. Not wanting to get hypothermia because of Meredy, he decided to take off his winter outfit. The rest of the team (except the preoccupied Kyle) did the same. After undressing, Reid looked at the object in his hand once more. He gasped quietly as he recognized the purple sphere as being one of Reala's hair clips. And there was a piece of paper attached to the sphere. Reid quickly removed it and opened it up to read, but the message was written in Melnics.

"Oh no..." Meredy said after reading the message to herself. "Kyle, this note is from Hyades!" The blond haired boy changed his focus towards Meredy and ran towards her.

"From Hyades?" Kyle asked. "That other guy involved? What does it say?!?" Meredy was nearly shaken to death by Kyle's anxiousness.

"Message not good..." Meredy said. "Does Kyle still want to hear it?" Kyle briskly nodded. "It says, 'The one you are looking for is no longer here. You must find a cave on a coast to find what you have lost.'" Kyle sighed when the message was done being read.

"So..." He said rather solemnly. "It's really true... They do have her..." Kyle's face changed into a determined scowl. "But I have to find Reala!" He yelled. "This is my chance to truly be Reala's hero!" Without warning, Kyle ran off before anybody could say another word, the white scarf from his winter outfit still flowing behind him. Within seconds, he was gone from sight.

"Dammit!" Keele said. "He's gone and just... run off on his own!"

"We need to catch up to Kyle and help save Reala!" Farah said, ready to give chase.

"Right! Let's go!" Reid said, and the five remaining adventurers ran off to try and catch up with their sixth companion, running through the streets of Peruti...

* * *

**Author's Nota Bene: **Dun dun DUN! What will be in store for next time? Speaking of which, the next chapter is hopefully going to be the conclusion for Part 1 of Two Destinies! Anyways, it may be quite a while before any updates appear beyond this one, so be lucky you have this much! I hope you're enjoying the story, and I apologize if the ending sounds a little bit rushed... Thanks for reading! Anonymous reviews are now open for this story (I think)! And stay tuned for the end of the beginning! :D


	18. Chapter 16: The Battle with Barbatos

**Two Destinies Chapter 16: The Battle with Barbatos  
**

**Author's Note: **Here it is! The final chapter of Two Destinies part 1! I gotta warn you ahead of time, you guys are probably gonna want to choke more information out of me (literally) once you have read this, but my lips are sealed. You'll just have to wait until my writing hiatus is done~~~! Regardless of any frustrations you may have upon completing this chapter, I hope you enjoy it! And, just to remind anybody who may be thinking way too much into this chapter, this is the end of the FIRST part of the story, so keep that in mind... ;)

* * *

_This is all my fault..._ Kyle thought as he ran blindly away from Peruti. His legs just kept bringing him in some random direction, completely separate from his thoughts. _If I hadn't insisted on having Reala stay in Peruti, she wouldn't have been kidnapped... But how was I supposed to know that Barbatos was following us?_ Out of breath and stamina, Kyle stopped running. For the first time since he had left Peruti, he finally took notice to the environment around him. The grass lightly tickled at his shoes, and a moderately chilly wind played with his yellow hair and white scarf. Kyle'd had no time to remove his outfit from the Mount Celsius adventure, so the chill wind didn't bother him. Kyle had no idea where he even was, or how far away from Peruti he had even gotten. This didn't seem to bother the already-troubled teenager, however, as he was completely focused on his rescue mission. He needed to find 'a cave on the coast', according to the letter from the other person who was apparently accompanying Barbatos. Having recovered somewhat, Kyle dashed off into the unknown once again, scarf bouncing in the wind.  
~~~

Somewhere fairly nearby, the other five adventurers were trying to find the runaway teenager in attempts to stop him from doing something stupid he may regret. They had been searching for almost an hour at this point, with no clues to pinpoint even which direction Kyle had run off in. "This is ridiculous..." Keele said, somewhat out of breath. "Not only is that stupid kid fast, but it's like we're chasing after a ghost..."

"I have a better idea than trying to find Kyle." Farah said. Everybody turned to face the green-haired martial artist. "Instead of looking for him, let's try looking for the cave on the coast that the letter had talked about. If we find that, perhaps we'll end up getting there before Kyle and, once he shows up, we can start talking sense to him."

"Great idea, Farah." Reid said. "So, let's head in the direction of the coast, then."

"It should be in that direction." Chat said, pointing in a random direction. "The breeze is coming from that direction, and since it's the middle of the day, that means the wind is blowing in from the sea."

"All right." Keele said. "Chat's right. Let's head into the wind." And the adventurers ran off, hoping they would somehow run into Kyle, perhaps by accident.  
~~~

Kyle had also reached the coast by sheer luck, having no idea about sea breezes and was also searching for the cave by following the coastline. Waves licked at the cliffs below, occasionally sending a chilly spray upward. Thanks to his warm jacket, Kyle didn't even flinch at the sea spray.  
~~~

On the other hand, the rest of the team, not wearing their winter outfits anymore, were getting wet and cold from the spray. "So... wet!" Meredy said after getting doused with an especially powerful jet of spray after a large wave rolled into the side of the cliff. Quickie shook his fur out.

"We have to keep moving." Farah said. "Don't let the cold water slow us down!"

"Keep an eye out for anything that seems remotely cave-like." Keele said. "We need to keep searching."

"Do we have to keep running so fast, though?" Chat said. "I'm starting to get tired here..."

"Me too..." Keele said. "We can slow down a little bit..."

"No way!" Reid said. "We have to find Kyle and make sure he doesn't get hurt!"

"He'll be fine." Farah said. "He always somehow ends up being okay, no matter what. And I agree, we should slow down a little."

"Well, I guess you have a point..." Reid said, scratching the back of his head. "But we still have to hurry and make sure nothing terrible happens, though."

"Which is why I said we should slow down a little." Farah said. "Not a whole lot, just enough to let Chat and Keele recover."

"Fine." Reid nodded. He slowed his run a little and the others followed suit. "We need to find that cave..."  
~~~

Kyle had found a pile of dark grey and craggy rocks that were jutting out of the ground conspicuously. And, sure enough, when he looked around, he found a hole in the outcrop. However, just as he was about to enter, a strong breeze picked up and, even with the extra layers on, Kyle was forced to recoil from the wind. After the wind subsided, Kyle resumed his entrance into the hole a couple steps, when, all of a sudden, he felt a tug on his neck and could not continue inside anymore unless he wished to choke himself. Looking back behind him, Kyle saw that his scarf had somehow gotten stuck in between two rocks when the wind had picked up. He walked back outside and begin tugging at the scarf, but it would not budge.

"Damn scarf..." He said under his breath. After a couple seconds at staring at the trap, he figured that either he would somehow rip the scarf if he tried to remove it or it would be stuck there forever. Shrugging, he added, "Well, it's not like I need it anyways..." Somewhat gracefully, Kyle spun around and the scarf came off of his neck. It billowed in the wind, its obvious white color standing out like a beacon against the dark rocks that had trapped it. Kyle stared at the pinioned scarf for a half a second before descending into the darkness once again.

"Reala?!?" Kyle yelled into the darkness as he progressed slowly inward. "Are you here? Hey!" He kept repeating these phrases and others as he fumbled his way around the cave. At one point, he had even nearly fallen over when the trail abruptly dropped in slope. After his heart stopped racing from the scare, he sighed in relief and continued onward. Turning around corner after corner in what seemed to be an endless maze of cave, Kyle's heart skipped a beat when he finally saw a faint glimmer of hope. There was a very dim purple glow that an unobservant individual might have missed up ahead, and, hoping it was Reala, raced in the direction that the light was emanating from. As he banked the next turn, the glow became even stronger, to the point that Kyle could actually see his hands in front of his face once again. There was only one more turn left to take...

Sure enough, seemingly floating in the air on the other side of the nearly circular cave room, there was Reala. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were poised around the Lens pendant on her neck, which was providing the illuminating aura. Kyle gasped, and then, at the top of his lungs, he yelled out "REALA!!!" With a tiny gasp of her own, Reala's eyes opened and she stared into the face of the hero that had come to rescue her. Instead of the smile that Kyle was anticipating, however, Reala's face was filled with fear.

"Kyle, no!" She yelled. "Please go back! It's a trap!" After taking a rather raspy breath, she added. "I don't want to see you get hurt!" Not one to follow good advice at a time like this, Kyle ran a few steps toward Reala rather than turning around.

"I'm not leaving without you!" He yelled. "Please, come with me!" Kyle extended an arm towards Reala as a gesture.

"I can't..." Reala said. "There's a spell that was cast to keep me from moving... I've done everything I can to break the spell..."

"I'll break the spell!" Kyle said, taking another step forward. "I'll save you no matter what!"

"No, Kyle..." She said, forcing back tears. "Leave me here and escape to safety... Your life is in danger..."

"I'll never leave your side again, Reala!" Kyle yelled. "And I'll fight off anything to keep you safe!"

"'Anything'?" A deep voice resonated from seemingly nowhere. Kyle gasped. That voice was unmistakable. He looked around the cave to look for anything that stood out and his right hand instinctively reached for his sword. However, before he could draw the weapon, a loud battle cry of "BURUAAAAA!" rang out from behind him. Whipping around quickly, Kyle just barely saw what was coming at him a second before his small body was thrown to the ground. Reala gasped upon seeing this dead-on blow. Leaving his opponent no time to get a second attack in, Kyle quickly sprang to his feet and dodged an axe slash. Standing a few meters apart now, Kyle faced down his much taller opponent, who was grinning evilly from ear to ear.

"Barbatos!" Kyle yelled as he whipped out his sword at last. "Give me Reala back!" Barbatos chuckled evilly at this demand.

"And what makes you think that I'll just hand her back to you, brat?" He replied. "You're gonna have to fight me to get her back. Alone. None of your companions are here to help you..." Kyle's face furrowed deeper into anger as he stood still, breathing heavily. Barbatos was unmoving, too. They both knew that even though Barbatos was far stronger than Kyle, the latter could easily outrun the former and dodge many of the blows. Both of them waited for the first move to be made by the other.

Just then, Kyle concocted an idea that would hopefully get him an edge in this standoff. All he needed to do was cast a spell on Barbatos, and move in to attack while he reacted to the attack. Deciding on which spell to cast, Kyle closed his eyes to begin focusing on his spell. This was a big mistake. Barbatos smirked when he saw that his opponent had closed his eyes in the middle of a duel standoff.

"I see what you're trying to do there, you idiot..." Barbatos said, holding out a hand towards Kyle, who didn't see this because he was still busy trying to cast his magic. "I won't let you use that spell! Execution!" Kyle's eyes shot open and gasped in wonder upon seeing that his opponent was able to cast a spell so quickly. And in an instant after, the dark spell began to run its course.

In order to defend himself, Kyle yelled out "Guardian!" and held his sword over his head. A green glow surrounded the young swordsman as the dark magic battered against the barrier. However, this method wasn't the most efficient, and soon the barrier shattered under the pressure of the enemy's spell. A last lick of dark magic zapped Kyle, sending him to the ground. The spell then faded away as Reala gasped once again in the back. Barbatos chuckled as he walked over to the fallen swordsman.

"Don't take your eyes off of your opponent..." Barbatos laughed as he stood over Kyle. However, not done yet, a smirk creeped onto the young boy's face, slightly surprising Barbatos.

"Azure Pursuit!(1)" Kyle launched an Azure Edge at Barbatos, causing the blue haired man to back away in surprise. Kyle quickly rose to his feet and finished the rest of his move by slashing horizontally at Barbatos. Reala cheered for Kyle during this retaliation. The intimidating villain laughed after the attack had ended.

"So, there's still some fight left in you, huh?" He chuckled. "I'm just getting warmed up here..." After saying that, Barbatos lifted his axe over his head and behind his back to prepare for another attack. Kyle knew what was coming, so he quickly ran towards Barbatos to intercept the attack. However, as light on his feet as he was, it wasn't enough to get to Barbatos in time.

Reala saw the axe fly over Barbatos' head and prepared for the worst. "KYLE, NO!!!" She yelled. However, nothing she could do would be able to stop the axe from burying itself into the ground.

"WORLD DESTROYER!!!" Barbatos yelled as his axe split the earth beneath it. Dark energy sprang out of the ground through magic cracks created by the attack, and Kyle received the full force of the blow.

"AAAAH!" He yelled as he was knocked backward and skyward by the World Destroyer attack. Reala yelled out for Kyle once again, tears starting to form in her eyes. She wished so much that she could run over to her injured hero and heal his wounds. After he hit the ground pretty hard, Kyle would not move. Barbatos once again walked over to his opponent.

"Are you finished yet?" He said darkly. Kyle opened his eyes slowly to look up at the man towering over him. Barbatos frowned upon seeing that his opponent still lived, even after he had used World Destroyer. This annoying teenager just wouldn't die. "Still want more punishment?" Barbatos said, resting a foot on Kyle's chest.

"I... can't... lose..." Kyle said slowly, clearly suffering from his injuries. "I... won't..."

"You already have..." Barbatos said, putting more pressure onto the foot that he had placed on Kyle's chest a few seconds prior. More screams of agony were uttered by the injured boy as he felt the heavy villain's foot start to collapse his rib cage.

"BARBATOS, PLEASE STOP!!!" Reala yelled, tears streaming from her eyes. "PLEASE!!!" Barbatos removed his foot that was delivering the pain and looked around back at Reala.

"There's nothing you can do..." Barbatos said, grinning. "Your little hero is nearly dead... And I'll make sure I finish the job!" He turned around to deliver the final blow to his victim, but, despite his numerous injuries, Kyle was still insisting to stand and fight and had found his way onto his feet once more while Barbatos was talking to Reala.

"I'm not going to die here..." Kyle said weakly, pointing his sword at Barbatos. "I can still fight..." Reala gasped when she saw this display of courage. Barbatos only frowned.

"You can barely stand..." Barbatos scoffed. "How do you plan on defeating me?" Determination and pain highlighted Kyle's eyes as he breathed heavily, each breath being raspier than the last. All of a sudden, a red glow began to radiate from Kyle's body, and his eyes glowed with newly found strength. Barbatos only raised an eyebrow at this.

"So, you're using a Spirit Blaster, huh?" He said. "I bet you'll drop dead before it's even complete." A dark laugh came from Barbatos and rang in the air. Kyle straightened up, and Reala gasped. A dark frown came over Kyle's face. He ran towards Barbatos as if he wasn't injured and started attacking with a flurry of rapid slash and thrust moves. Barbatos somehow was able to parry all the blows of this fierce attack, but he was surprised by the intensity of these attacks. The attacks soon subsided, and Kyle jumped back a step.

"This isn't over! Riot Crusader!(2)" Kyle managed to knock Barbatos off-guard with an upward slash, and then he jumped up after somehow managing to knock Barbatos into the air and slashed the villain three more times before twisting around with one more slash and landing gracefully on his feet. Barbatos, however, landed less gracefully. "And I'm not done yet!" The red Spirit Blaster glow became even stronger and Kyle's sword even seemed to glow now. Barbatos had no idea as to what was about to happen and tried to prepare defending against it. "Feel the sword of the hero! Soar!" Kyle thrusted his sword forward and into Barbatos' abdomen, causing the larger man to recoil from the blow. "Ring!" A slash downward followed the prior attack. Barbatos grunted with the hit. "Divine..." A slash upward, followed by Kyle leaping into the air and delivering another punch with his left hand, caused Barbatos to stagger back, setting Kyle up for the final blow. In the same fluid motion as the leaping punch, Kyle swung his right hand upward for a powerful slash that launched him and Barbatos into the air, where Kyle yelled out "EDGE!!!(3)" Barbatos fell onto his back, and Kyle landed on his feet soon after. Reala cheered loudly in delight upon seeing Kyle clobber Barbatos with his Arte. The red Spirit Blaster glow faded away.

"Dammit!" Barbatos growled from the ground as he got up again to stare at Kyle, whom Barbatos had totally underestimated because of his injuries prior to being hit with the powerful Arte that he felt. After a couple seconds of staring, Kyle coughed up blood, dropped his sword, and sank to one knee, recoiling in the pain of his preexisting injuries added to the overexertion he had just put into his last Arte. If he was nearly dead earlier, now he was barely grasping onto life. Reala gasped. Barbatos once again had the advantage, and he smirked at this as he walked over to where Kyle was, this time dead-set on making sure he was completely dead. Barbatos wrapped a large hand around Kyle's relatively scrawny neck and lifted him into the air higher than where his feet could touch the ground. Even though he was almost dead, Kyle still had enough strength to try and struggle out of Barbatos' grasp.

"KYLE!" Reala cried. "NO!!!" Barbatos laughed at the futile struggle of his victim.

"So..." He said, really pleased that he had come out on top in this battle. "You've been one hell of an annoyance... It's time for you to die..." Under normal circumstances, Kyle would have shot back some kind of retort, but he had no energy to do so remaining. "Now, you choose... Would you rather me do things quickly and with less pain by having me squeeze your neck until it snaps?" Barbatos tightened his grip a little more on the word 'squeeze', causing Kyle to attempt to yell in pain. "...Or would you rather suffer for longer and wait until I suffocate you to death? Pick your poison..."

"Barbatos, please!" Reala yelled, crying desperately. "Please spare him! You've made him suffer enough already! I can't take this anymore!!!"

"...No answer, little hero?" Barbatos said sarcastically. "Then I'll choose your fate for you. Now, let's see... It brings me great joy to see you suffer... I'll have to pick number..."

"DEMONIC CHAOS!!!" A new voice rang out through the cave, causing Reala to gasp. Three projectiles sailed across the battlefield towards Barbatos, who jumped back in surprise and inadvertently dropped Kyle. Barbatos frowned towards the entrance of the room and standing there was a red-haired teenager with a sword in his hand, looking really angry. Four other people spilled into the area and were poised to fight, as well.

"Reid!" Reala yelled out. "You came just in time!"

"Hyades!" Barbatos barked. "It's your turn!" Turning to face Kyle, still on the ground, he added "I've done all I need to do here... You'll be dead soon, even without having the final blow inflicted by me..." Barbatos turned around and faced Reala and started walking towards her. Reid ran toward Barbatos as fast as he could, but suddenly, he was knocked over by something. Looking up, he saw Hyades on top of him, ready to kill. However, before he could react, Hyades felt one of Farah's shoes clobber his face, and he turned around to deal with this second attacker. Chat lobbed hammers and Keele lobbed spells at Hyades, and the Celestian villain was now trying to kill all four attackers at once with little avail. Meredy, however, ran over to Kyle in order to try and save his life.

"Is Kyle okay?" Meredy asked as she kneeled over Kyle. There was no response. Meredy looked at him for another second before pulling out her Craymel Cage. "Water of life, mend these fatal wounds!" She chanted. The Cage glowed blue. "Heal!" Kyle, too, was bathed in blue light for a couple seconds as the magic did its work.

However, Meredy was still in the middle of this spell taking its effect when she heard "I'll kill you, Meredy!" and spun around to see Hyades lunging at her. Meredy gasped and prepared for the worst, but instead, there was a thwacking sound, and Hyades dropped to the ground, leaving Meredy unharmed. Meredy opened her eyes and saw Keele standing over her, staff in a position ideal for hitting somebody over the head. The purple-haired Celestian smiled as Keele withdrew his staff.

"Keele saved Meredy again!" She chirped. "Thank you, Keele!" Once again, Keele's reward for saving Meredy was being hugged (and nearly tackled) by the energetic young girl. Blushing (though notably less than at Mt. Celsius), he returned the hug.

"Guys!" Farah yelled to Keele and Meredy. "We need to stop Barbatos!" Barbatos stopped in his tracks.

"So, you think you can beat me?" He chuckled. "Your little friend over there wasn't capable of doing much damage, and now he's lying at the edge of death..."

"Alone, we'd probably end up like him..." Chat said. "But together, we can take ANYTHING down!"

"Try me..." Barbatos said, turning around and brandishing his axe.

"Meredy, get Kyle out of harm's way!" Farah said, looking at Meredy. "Keele, get the scoop on this guy!" Meredy nodded and was somehow able to quickly drag Kyle a few meters away from where he had been lying before. Keele pulled his Spectacles out of his pocket and held them up towards Barbatos. The giant man suddenly became super furious for no reason.

"Is that a Spectacles I see?!?" He yelled, advancing quickly upon Keele. Keele looked away from his Spectacles to see the oncoming attacker, and he uttered a surprised yelp. Barbatos grabbed Keele before the cowardly mage could get away, and held him at eye level. "Let me get things straight for you..." Barbatos growled. He then threw Keele to the ground hard. "NO... ITEMS... EVER!!!!!!" After a series of brutal attacks, Keele got knocked away into the air with one final axe swing. However, while he was still airborne, Farah used one of her healing Artes on Keele. The blue haired Craymel Mage quickly sat up after hitting the ground and brushed off his robes. A small smile towards Reid told the hunter that Keele was okay.

"Come on, team!" Reid said, rushing towards Barbatos. "We can do this!" The others began to quickly gather around Barbatos, as well. "You're surrounded, Barbatos! Give up!" Barbatos only smiled evilly.

"Poisonic Void!" Barbatos drove a fist into the ground, and dark energy sprang up all around him, attacking all of the surrounding party members, and they all were flung backwards by the attack and knocked to the ground. Stepping over Meredy, Barbatos continued to walk towards Reala, who was utterly shocked that her friends had all been defeated. Once he was a few steps away from Reala, he stopped and smiled. "It's time for us to go home, Reala..." He said. "You've been useful in helping me exterminate some pests..." Reala gasped.

"I won't let you use me!" Reala yelled bravely. "You can't control me anymore!" Barbatos chuckled.

"You forget that I still have this..." He held up a tiny Lens to show Reala. "You'll do as I say. Now, take us back home!" Barbatos' Lens emitted a white glow for a second, and then Reala's Lens began to glow, too.

"No!" She began screaming. "You can't do this! Aaah!"

"REALA!!!" A voice rang out. Barbatos turned around to Kyle once again on his feet. He looked rather unstable, but still determined. "REALA, NO!" He started to dash towards her and Barbatos. But Barbatos laughed evilly.

"I already won!" He yelled. "Nothing you can do will stop me now!" Whipping his axe around, Barbatos pointed it at Kyle, focused for a second, and quickly raised the axe into the air, yelling "Genocide Braver!" Not anticipating the attack, Kyle was hit with the blow dead-on. He fell to his knees after being hit, but he looked up at Barbatos, determined to stop him.

"I... can't... let you... take Reala..." Kyle said, glaring at Barbatos. Once again, he rose to his feet. However, the white glow that was surrounding Barbatos and Reala had gotten to a point where it was starting to bleach out their appearances. There wasn't much time left to rescue Reala, and Kyle knew that. He once again forced himself to his feet, his legs wobbling beneath him as he stood looking at Reala for half a second. Once again, he broke into a run. "REALA!" He yelled, getting very close now. He held out a hand, hoping that he could somehow reach Reala. Reala as well held out a hand towards Kyle. However, just before their hands could touch, Reala's hand faded away, as did the rest of her body. Barbatos was gone, too. Kyle took a few more paces forward and ended up at the spot where Reala had been just a few seconds ago. He stopped and just stood there.

"Oh no..." Farah, who had gotten up not too long ago and was mending the wounds on her fellow companions (seeing as she figured that she wouldn't be able to get to Reala in time from where she was standing), said as she looked up at Kyle. "She's gone..."

"Kyle..." Reid said. "He must be in so much shock that he wasn't able to save Reala..."

Just then, Kyle dropped to his knees. His vision was blurred and was he was unable to see anything. His strength was quickly declining, and his arms wobbled dangerously, threatening to collapse under him. The pain from his injuries began to fade from his mind, and everything else faded as well: his eyes, his smile, and his energy. Soon, Kyle's arms could no longer support his weight, and they buckled underneath him, causing him to fall to the ground. He just lay there, not willing to struggle back to his feet like he had all those other times. And then his eyelids grew heavy, falling over his eyes that had lost their brilliant azure hue. The others had quickly rushed over to Kyle when they saw him collapse, but by the time they had gotten over to him, it was too late...

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**Author's Nota Bene: **And that's all she wrote! Sorry, there's nothing more for me to write. Part 1 is finally complete! I hope that, despite the sad ending, you enjoyed this! Now I'll be going onto a writing hiatus, waiting for more schedule time to open up. I may rename this story to "Two Destinies Part 1" and label it complete, and once I get the chance to write again, I'll create Two Destinies Part 2. I'm still debating that in my mind, since doing that will cause all the people who have this story on their alerts to have to find the next part and put THAT on alert. I'll decide on that once I have the first chapter (the prologue) of Part 2 all written. Thank you for reading this story! I enjoyed writing it.

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Footnotes:

(1) This is actually the Azure Storm used by the Thief Class in Radiant Mythology. The Azure Storm used by Yuri Lowell in Vesperia will have its name stay the same. This change was made to avoid confusion.

(2) A Fanslation of Shikkuu Rensatsuken.

(3) Together, it's supposed to say "Soaring Divine Edge"; A Fanslation of Zankuu Tenshouken (modified from my friend's fanslation due to me not being too fond of the original (Drastic Finality Edge)).


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